A 33-year-old hiker was killed on Wednesday after a storm caused a landslide at the Samaria Gorge on Crete.
The woman, a Ukraine national residing in Germany, had nearly reached the southern exit of the gorge at the Agia Roumeli coastal village when a landslide injured her following a rain storm. She died of bleeding.
Emergency rescue units rushed to the site, one of the most popular national parks in Greece, to evacuate other tourists who were also hiking through the gorge.
“Today, after 1:30 p.m., there was a strong downpour which caused a landslide. A rock hit a tree and fell on a German tourist. Despite the efforts of a medical doctor who was also a tourist hiking the gorge, the woman succumbed to hemorrhage. The incident was due to the rain,” said Alkiviadis Pentarakis, a supervisor of the National Park of Samaria, in an interview to MEGA television.
Pentarakis said authorities had not closed the gorge because they were never warned of the imminent storm.
Samaria Gorge is a 10-mile stunning hike
The Samaria Gorge is one of Crete’s main tourist attractions with hundreds of people hiking the narrow riverine canyon every day, mainly in the summer. The hike takes about six to seven hours.
The 15-kilometer (10-mile) long walk takes you through a stunning UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and some of the most unique scenery to be found in Greece.
The gorge was formed by a small river that runs between the White Mountains and Mount Volakias. Although there are many gorges on Crete, Samaria Gorge is by far the largest, and is known for being the second-largest gorge in Europe.
The village of Samaria used to be located inside of the gorge, but was finally abandoned by the last remaining inhabitants in 1962 to make way for the Samaria Gorge Park. The village and the gorge take their names from the village’s ancient church, Óssia María.
A notable feature of the gorge on Crete is that it is home to a number of native species, including the Cretan kri-kri goat. Almost all of the kri-kri goats who live outside of captivity call Samaria Gorge their home, making the area a very special one for animal conservationists.
The head of the Gorge is at a small village called Xyloskalo. The walking path ends at a quaint village named Agia Roumeli, nestled between the gorge and the Libyan Sea.
One of the most showstopping parts of hiking Samaria Gorge is a stretch of the trail referred to as “the Gates.”
This aptly named part of the impressive hike denotes a slightly claustrophobic but impressive area where the sides of the gorge close in, leaving a gap of only four meters (13 feet) for hikers to slip through.
This impresses those who navigate it, particularly as the gorge walls reach up to 300 meters (980 feet) along this stretch.
The hike will often take people from five to seven hours unless they opt to do it “the lazy way”; a modified, shorter hike from the village of Agia Roumeli to the Gates and back.
