Body found in hunt for Brit mountaineer, 61, after hiker made terrified SOS call before vanishing in national park

A BRITISH mountaineer has been found dead after making a terrified SOS call before vanishing.

The 61-year-old told emergency responders he was “lost and exhausted” when he made his last call around 7pm yesterday.

He had travelled to the famous Picos de Europa mountain range in the north of Spain.

The late Brit was found in the Moeno canal, according to sources from the 112 Emergency Center of Castilla y León.

The Civil Guard will lead the extraction of his body, Europa Press reported.

A major manhunt had been launched yesterday to locate the mountaineer, including using a rescue helicopter.

A spokesman for a regional emergency response coordination centre said: “We are coordinating a rescue that began at 7.11pm on Thursday after receiving a 999 call… informing us a British mountaineer aged 61 had become disorientated when he was doing a mountain route in the Picos de Europa.

“At that moment he didn’t know where he was, the weather conditions were bad, with wind, low clouds and intermittent rain, and he said he was exhausted.”

They said his rough location was established through coordinates he gave.

“A regional government rescue helicopter was mobilised with two rescuers on board, one of them a nurse,” the spokesman added.

“The Civil Guard and provincial firefighters were also alerted. When they reached the area the British man was understood to be in, the rescue helicopter carried out several reconnaissance fly-overs but was unable to spot him.

“As night fell, rescuers accessed the area on foot and began to search with a Civil Guard specialist mountain search and rescue team.

“The operation continued until the early hours of this morning despite the adverse weather conditions, as it had started snowing in the area.  

“The search was resumed at first light today.”

Officials in the neighbouring region of Asturias just above the Castilla and Leon region have been asked for help.

A Civil Guard spokesman said: “A search operation is underway in the Picos de Europa for a 61-year-old who is disorientated in the area between Cain and Torrecerredo in Leon.

“During the night Civil Guard mountain specialists with other emergency responders have been combing the area with the co-ordinates they had been given.

“Back-up units have been incorporated into the ongoing operation at first light.”

The Picos de Europa – Peaks of Europe in English – are a mountain range extending for around 12 miles forming part of the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain.

The range is in the autonomous communities of Asturias, Cantabria and Castile and Leon.

The highest peak is Torre de Cerredo which is 8,690ft high.