The mayor of Paranesti reported that the mountaineer who fell after a bear attack in Frakto, Drama, on Sunday afternoon was located at the bottom of the ravine.
In an interview with ERT, he stated that rescuers, equipped with ropes, have established visual contact with the man and anticipate reaching him in the next few hours.
On Monday, responders who arrived at the scene discovered one of the two men alive; he had climbed a tree for safety. Once the danger passed, he called 112 to inform emergency services and request assistance. He was reportedly one of the first to descend into the ravine, which is over 500 meters deep, in an effort to find his friend. He managed to go down about 25 meters but found no signs of him.
Search efforts for the man who fell into the gorge persisted overnight, with rescuers reaching depths of 300 meters before halting due to darkness and hazardous conditions.
Details of the bear attack
Prior to the incident, mountaineer and teacher Dimitris Kioroglou, who was with a colleague—a gym teacher—during the bear attack, spoke with ERT. They had gone to view a historic Hellenic Air Force fighter plane that crashed in the Frakto forest nearly 77 years ago.
“Suddenly, I heard my colleague shout, ‘come, there’s a bear.’ I saw a huge bear charge at me. I had no time to react—my dog intervened, giving me a few seconds to grab the pepper spray. Then the bear turned on my friend, knocked him down, and stood on its hind legs before pushing him off the edge,” he recounted, recalling the terrifying encounter.
“Initially, he used the spray, and then I did too, but I believe it ran out during the second attempt,” Mr. Kioroglou noted, explaining how his Belgian Malinois dog jumped in front of him as soon as it sensed danger.
Although they had encountered bears before, this was the first time they had faced such aggression.
“Let’s hope and pray we find him alive. As a human being, a teacher, a father, and a friend—he’s an exceptional gym teacher,” the mountaineer said of his friend.
After his friend’s fall, he described his next steps: “I called 112 and 166, provided coordinates, and reached out to friends familiar with the challenging terrain—there are no roads, just steep hiking trails.”
“I believe in my friend’s strength. May God lend a hand, as we all need his support,” Mr. Kioroglou concluded.
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