According to the mayor of Paranesti, the mountaineer who fell after a bear attack in Frakto, Drama, on Sunday afternoon was found at the bottom of the ravine into which he had fallen.

As he told ERT, the rescuers who descended with ropes have visual contact with the man and are expected to approach him in the coming hours.

On Monday, rescuers who reached the scene of the incident found one of the two men alive, who had climbed up a tree to protect himself. He was the one who, when the danger had passed, alerted emergency services by calling 112 and asking for help. In fact, according to reports, he was among the first to begin descending into the ravine, which is more than 500 meters deep, in an attempt to locate his friend and fellow hiker. He managed to descend as far as 25 meters but did not find any trace of him.

Efforts to locate the man who fell into the gorge continued throughout the night, with rescuers descending as far as 300 meters deep, but stopping due to the darkness and danger involved.

How the bear attacked them

Earlier, mountaineer and teacher Dimitris Kioroglou, who was with his colleague – a gym teacher – when they were attacked by the bear, spoke to ERT.

As he said, they had gone to see the old fighter plane of the Hellenic Air Force that had crashed in the Frakto forest about 77 years ago.

“At some point, I heard him shout ‘come, there’s a bear’. I saw a very large bear that attacked me. I didn’t have time to react – my dog got in between and gave me 2-3 seconds to take out the pepper spray. Then the bear turned toward my friend, shoved him once and knocked him down, then stood on its hind legs and gave him a strong push that sent him over the edge,” he described, recounting the terrifying moments of the attack by the massive animal.

“At first, he sprayed it, then I sprayed it too, but the second time I assume the spray was finished,” added Mr. Kioroglou, who explained that his dog, a Belgian Malinois, “as soon as he sensed my life was in danger, jumped in front to protect me.”

According to him, although they have encountered bears before, this was the first time one had been so aggressive.

“Let’s hope and pray that we find him alive. As a human being, a teacher, a father, a friend – he’s a gym teacher, he’s the best person,” the mountaineer said about his friend.

Describing his actions after his friend’s fall, the mountaineer said: “I called 112 and 166 and gave coordinates, I called friends who know the rough terrain – there are no roads, nothing, only hiking trails with steep ascents and descents.”

“I believe in my friend because he’s very strong. May God lend a hand, because we all need him,” Mr. Kioroglou concluded.