Sarah Slater
The body of a 39-year-old Irish hiker last seen on the Italian island of Sardinia last Friday afternoon has been found.
Italian media outlets are reporting that his body was found in a remote area.
According to the newspaper L’unione Sarda, emergency services believe he lost his way along the track on the third stage of the Cammino Minerario di Santa Barbara mining trail, between Masua and Cala Domestica.
The trail, which is 19.3 kilometres long, is classed as hard and challenging and runs along the coastline.
Some passages, particularly along the panoramic route after passing the Cantina Belvedere, are exposed to falling debris from above. There are 30 stages in total.
The man’s body was found by search dogs from the local firefighters' canine unit who had been coordinating the search operations for days, also carried out with drones and a helicopter.
The body was found on the side of the Canale di Sa Rocca Niedda.
The Irishman had been reported missing by his brothers, whom he is understood to have separated from.
Emergency services scoured the coast on a large scale for a full 48 hours.
The southern based Cagliari fire brigade set up an Advanced Command Post with a Ucl (local command unit) vehicle to coordinate the teams, operating on site with Tas (topography applied to rescue) specialists, Saf, an alpine and fluvial speleology team, Sapr, a remotely piloted aircraft systems unit with drones, and a dog unit.
In addition to the ground teams, with off-road vehicles, the national Drago 144 helicopter, which took off from the Alghero base, was deployed.
On Saturday, the helicopter flew over areas surrounding the search area.
The national broadcaster RAI also reported that the missing man was hiking with his brothers when they split up and all traces of him were lost.
An Italian spokesperson for the emergency services involved said there was an “impressive deployment of men and resources that unfortunately, so far, has not achieved the desired result".
The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it is aware of the case and is providing consular assistance.
