Mountain Rescue Service Squad Bansko, Bulgaria

August 3, 2023

In the days between 27.12.22 and 02.01.23, the rescue squad Bansko conducted a search action in the area of Vihren Peak, together with the units Razlog, Sandanski, Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil and Sofia. Numerous crawls of the area, information gathering and drone searches were conducted. During subsequent video analysis of the footage, belongings and later the body of the deceased tourist were identified. It became clear that the person had fallen down a steep slope of ice and rocks of about five hundred meters. Due to the dangerous terrain on which the bodies were located, a helicopter was required to evacuate them on 02.01.23, but its mission was aborted shortly after it flew over the rescuers. This was followed by ground transport, across ice fields and cliff sills, with about fifty rescuers from the above units. The total duration of the action on 02.01.2023 was 17 hours.


Photo: Association Euni Partners Archive