Bear tracks and broken branches, which indicated the presence of the animal at the site, were found by volunteer rescuers when they arrived on Sunday evening at the forest of Fraktos in Drama, next to the ravine where the unfortunate 61-year-old died.

Speaking to protothema.gr, the head of the rescue team of OFKATH, Christos Rammos, points out that in the first 25 meters of the ravine was found the victim’s cell phone, which contained video of the moments when he was confronted with the bear, just before it pushed him and ended up in the ravine.

“Dimitri, there’s a bear, get the spray”

“From the cellphone we saw the entire video, in which he was recording the incident,” he says, adding that “the animal ran away because it was frightened when we arrived. The beginning of the video shows the landscape in the distance. Then the bear and can be heard shouting “Dimitri, bear” and “get the spray”. Then the sound of the spray can be heard, the dog can be seen rushing at the animal and the bear growls,” he points out.

Immediately afterwards, the video cuts off and it appears to be the moment the 61-year-old man ends up in the waterfall, resulting in his death.

The audio-visual footage is in the hands of Justice, Rammos points out, but it was seen by rescuers who were at the scene when the victim’s friend was explaining to them exactly what happened during the tragic incident.

“As soon as we arrived, he informed us of exactly what happened. When the bear turned to leave the trail, the dog attacked it and stayed at the spot,” he said, stressing that all scenarios about the circumstances of the incident must be put to rest.

The forensic

The death of the 61-year-old mountaineer who died when he fell into a ravine during a hike with his friend in the forest of Fraktos in Drama was instantaneous.

According to reports, the forensic examination of his body did not reveal any sign that the bear had attacked him, causing him to fall into the ravine, as claimed by his friend who was with him.

From the findings of the autopsy, which was completed this morning, it appears that the unfortunate 61-year-old died from a fall from a great height. Specifically, according to the coroner Nikos Kifnidis, his body had fractures from a fall, such as spinal, thoracic, and cervical fractures, a ruptured spinal cord, rib fractures, internal bleeding, and  2.5 liters of blood in the chest cavity.

In addition, no findings related to the wild animal attack, such as abrasions from her claws, teeth, etc.

One of the scenarios being considered is that the 61-year-old man saw the bear, got scared, slipped, and then fell into the ravine, but was not attacked by the animal, as the forensic examination did not find that he made contact with it before it ended up in the ravine.

At the same time, the victim’s mobile phone has been found and has been sent for analysis to the Hellenic Police Laboratories.