The Romanian climber, who was trapped since Saturday night in mountain Olympus, was rescued yesterday by Greek rescuers. The rescue operation lasted more than 12 hours and ended yesterday, at 20.00, with huge efforts by the special fire service forces and volunteers from the Hellenic Rescue Team (HRT).
The climber was approached and saved by men from the special fire service forces, who also provided him with first aid.
When he was reached, his health condition was good, but he was very exhausted and dehydrated.
The rescue mission was supported yesterday by 11 volunteers from the Hellenic Rescue Team, all experienced mountain rescuers from Thessaloniki and Kozani.
The Hellenic Rescue Team was alarmed immediately as soon as there was a call for help at Saturday night, informing at the same time the Fire Service, and mobilizing four HRT rescuers who were at the Muses Plateau in Olympus (near the summit), close to the area where the climber was trapped.
At the same night, with extreme weather conditions, like hail and thunderbolts, the HRT rescuers were struggling for hours to approach the climber and, finally, they had to retreat, for their own safety. Two of them, were slightly injured during their effort to reach the climber. At night rescuers from the special fire service forces also arrived in the area and began the rescue operation on Sunday morning.
It should be mentioned that from Saturday night until Sunday noon there was a phone contact with the climber and he was briefing the rescuers about his health condition, which, according to him, was good.
After strong and continuous efforts on Sunday, special fire service forces also had to temporarily abort the mission, as the weather became worse and the conditions were dangerous. At the same night, HRT launched a new rescue operation, with nine mountain rescuers from Thessaloniki.
With even worse weather conditions and very low temperature, HRT volunteers tried to reach the climber again and after many hours they had to back down once again.
On Monday night, one more team of 11 HRT rescuers arrived in Olympus, in order to support the special fire service forces
In total, 24 HRT mountain rescuers participated in this rescue operation, which was one of the most difficult of the recent years.
