Tourist found dead with four others reported missing on Greek islands

A missing tourist was found dead on the eastern Greek island of Samos on Saturday, local media reported. They are the latest in a string of recent cases in which tourists in the Greek islands have died or gone missing.

Some, if not all, had set out on hikes in blistering hot temperatures, the Associated Press reports.

Dr. Michael Mosley, a noted British TV anchor and author, was found dead last Sunday on the island of Symi. A coroner concluded that he had died the previous Wednesday, shortly after going for a hike over difficult, rocky terrain. Samos, like Symi, lies very close to the Turkish coast.

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The body of a 74-year-old Dutch tourist was found by a Fire Service drone lying face down in a ravine about 300 meters (330 yards) from the spot where he was last observed on Sunday, walking with some difficulty in the blistering heat.

The tragic find comes as authorities are still searching for four people reported missing in the past few days.

On Friday, local media report that two French tourists were reported missing on Sikinos, a relatively secluded Cyclades island in the Aegean Sea with less than 400 permanent residents. The two women, aged 73 and 64, had left their respective hotels to meet.

A 70-year-old American tourist was also reported missing on Thursday on the small island of Mathraki in Greece’s northwest extremity by his host, a Greek-American friend. The tourist had last been seen Tuesday at a café in the company of two female tourists who have since left the island.

Mathraki, a 3.9-square-kilometer (1.2-square-mile) heavily wooded island, saw strong winds that prevented police and the fire service from reaching the island to search as of Saturday afternoon, media reported.

On the island of Amorgos, authorities were still searching for a 59-year-old tourist reported missing since Tuesday, when he had gone on a solo hike in very hot conditions. U.S. media identified the missing tourist as retired Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Albert Calibet of Hermosa Beach, California.

Amorgos, the easternmost of the Cyclades islands, is a rocky 122-square-kilometer (47-square-mile) island of less than 2,000 inhabitants. A couple of years ago the island had a record number of visitors, over 100,000.

Some media commentary has focused on the need to inform tourists of the dangers of setting off on hikes in intense heat.

Temperatures across Greece on Saturday were more than 10 degrees Celsius (18 Fahrenheit) lower than on Thursday, when they peaked at almost 45 C (113 F). They are expected to rise again from Sunday, although not to heat-wave levels.