A LARGE-SCALE rescue operation ended in tragedy last week when a blind hiker, 47, was found dead at the bottom of a ravine in Malaga province.
He fell 60 metres from the Puente de los Alemanes (Bridge of the Germans) which crosses the Guadairo river over the Las Buitreras ravine.
He was hiking with friends on a well-worn hiking trail popular with locals and expats near Gaucin.
The emergency services say they received a call at 12.10pm, January 17, alerting them that a hiker had gone missing in the area.
The victim was accompanied at the time and, according to the Guardia Civil, ‘his companions were unable to grab him.’
The incident occurred in the Serrania de Ronda, a mountain range with a complex landscape.
The rescue operation required the immediate intervention of mountain rescue and intervention units to locate the victim. A helicopter was sent from a Granada military base to assist in the search.
Rescuers discovered the man’s body ‘several metres downstream due to the strong current’, the Guardia Civil said.
The challenging conditions of the river, marked by the strength of the current in the particular section of the ravine, hampered initial rescue efforts.
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His body was transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
The incident comes after Francisco Javier Sánchez, a 66-year-old blind man, asked the Ayuntamiento de Malaga to make the region safer for blind people.
He asked for raised pavements and audible traffic signals so that he can go out on the street more safely.
Sanchez made his request in 2023, but nothing has been done. His daughter has taken to social media to raise awareness about her father’s situation.
She said, “Many people have realized that being blind in a world that is not made for you is very difficult.”
The Guardia Civil say they do not know the circumstances in which the man fell.
The incident along with Sanchez’s comments have raised concerns about how safe and accessible Malaga and its surrounding countryside are for blind people.
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