British hikers who wanted to ‘go off-grid’ in Italy’s Dolomites missing since New Year’s Day

Two British hikers have been missing in Italy’s Dolomite mountains after being last heard from on New Year’s Day.

Aziz Ziriat, 36, and Samuel Harris, 35, from London, last sent messages to their loved ones in the late afternoon of January 1 from the Trentino region.

Their last known location is thought to be a hut called Casina Dosson near Tione Di Trento town, which is close to Riva Del Garda on Lake Garda, the charity added when it announced the news on Tuesday.

The pair of ‘experienced hikers’ had travelled to the mountainous range to ‘go off-grid.’

An alarm was raised when the two did not board their Lufthansa flight back to London on Monday.

Alpine Rescue, Guardia di Finanza Rescue, Carabinieri and the fire brigade are all involved in the search but due to recent snowfall teams say they are having difficulty reaching the area.

Rebecca Dimmock, Aziz’s girlfriend, told the BBC that they wanted to go from hut to hut throughout the Dolomites.

‘They wanted to do a New Year’s hike. They were planning on going off-grid, so that’s not unexpected at all,’ she said.

‘I think they wanted to have some nights where they were out in nature and in fresh air and sleeping in the wild. They have all the gear and they have done hikes before.

‘But they also wanted to get into the huts and have fires and drink red wine because it was New Year’s, which they did do, because he did message me at one point and he was carrying a log up the mountain to one of the huts.’

She added: ‘I know they made it to the hut, and they were drinking red wine, but he said it was freezing.’

Crystal Palace Football Club’s official charity, Palace for Life, for which Aziz works for, shared pictures of the two on X yesterday.

One of their posts included a picture that the charity said may show the last outfit Sam was wearing.

He can be seen standing on snow-covered rocky terrain in a grey top, dark trousers, a coat and glasses.

Palace for Life also posted a diagram of the route the hikers could have been on.

The charity said on its website: ‘We are urging supporters to share any information they might have to help locate Palace for Life employee Aziz Ziriat, and his friend Sam Harris, who have been missing since January 1 whilst hiking in the Dolomites mountains in north-eastern Italy.

‘We are appealing for anyone familiar with the area, who can provide assistance or information, to get in touch.’

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