A BRITISH woman has died after falling from a mountain while hiking in northern Spain.

The 42-year-old fell more than 500 metres from the Balaitus Peak, a mountain reaching 3,144 metres in height that marks the starting point of the High Pyrenees.

Emergency services from Spain’s Huesca region, including the Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (GREIM), were called out at around 7.30pm on Saturday evening to the scene of the accident.

The woman was pronounced dead shortly after.

Her body has been taken to Zaragoza’s Forensic Medicine Institute for a post-mortem examination to clarify the cause of death.

The Brit, who has not yet been named but is understood to have lived in Finland, was travelling with a 53-year-old male companion near the border with France when tragedy struck.

He was unharmed.

The Guardia Civil have opened an investigation into the incident, although it is understood that officers are treating her death as a “tragic accident resulting from a fall”.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are aware of a British woman who has died in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”

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