New tragedy in the Cyclades? Two French tourists aged 64 and 73 have been missing since last Friday on Sikinos, a small Greek island. Despite the heatwave affecting the country, the vacationers had to meet up to hike together. Since then, no more news. Their disappearance is all the more worrying as it comes as three foreign tourists were found dead last week in the country.
Local authorities fear that the two walkers were trapped in a steep and arid area of the island, bordered by the Aegean Sea.
A disappearance after a worrying message
The information shared by the various Greek media makes it possible to piece together the thread of events which preceded the disappearance of the French women. The two women, aged 64 and 73 respectively, were supposed to meet up for a walk together. Since the two vacationers – whose identities remained confidential – were not staying in the same hotel, each had to walk part of the way alone. This is when things get bad.
Indeed, as indicated by the mayor of Sikinos Vassilis Marakis in the morning ANT1 , it seems that one of the French women had a bad fall. The latter sent a message to the owner of the accommodation where she was staying, telling him that she had tripped and was not feeling well. A photo that accompanied her message indicates that she was on the ground.
“We are combing the area with boats and drones”
Local media do not provide any details on the context of the disappearance of the second woman. “Some trails on our island are not mapped and we do not know if the two women walked together or separately”indicated the mayor of this town of 200 souls.
The authorities first tried to geolocate the phone of the tourist who sent the message, in vain. They only managed to determine an area located in the south of the island, to concentrate their research. “We were divided from the start into teams, residents, volunteers and firefighters, and we are combing the area with boats and drones”further specifies the city councilor.
Tragic disappearances in other archipelagos
Even today, excavations were carried out on the island of Sikinos. On a neighboring archipelago, in Corfu, the body of a 59-year-old American was discovered last Sunday. Before him, two hikers had died: a Dutch tourist found on Saturday June 15 and a journalist and British TV star doctor, Michael Mosley, discovered lifeless on June 9. Everyone had undertaken hikes despite the oppressive heat in Greece.
The country experienced its first heatwave of the year, with the thermometer sometimes showing 38° degrees.
