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A 60-year-old Frenchman collapsed and died while out hiking near Fornalutx yesterday morning. The walker was identified as Jean Claude Rotger Bernard by the emergency services who said that his body had been found along the old Biniaraitx path. The 60-year-old and his wife set out on an organised walk yesterday with a group of hikers and a guide. The hike started early in an attempt to beat the heat. But police have managed to ascertain that not long into the walk, Jean Claude Rotger Bernard started to complain that he was not feeling too good and eventually decided to make his own way along the Biniaraitx path at his own pace. Police were last night trying to establish what happened next, but what is known is that a German hiker came across the Frenchman collapsed on the ground at 8.50am. The German said that the man was clearly in a bad way and immediately called for emergency assistance. Medics first at the scene were quick to realise that the 60-year-old was exhausted and the 112 emergency service launched a massive rescue operation which lasted for two hours. Soller and Inca fire brigades were alerted along with the Soller Guardia Civil and the mountain rescue service.A doctor headed to the scene with a mountain rescue team, but the hiker had unfortunately died - however until the results of the autopsy are released, the exact cause of death will not be known. Officers in charge of the inquiry have established that the body was bruised in parts, probably as a result of the victim falling to the ground a number of times and police have taken a statement from the Frenchman's widow. A brief reconstruction of what investigators suspect happened at this early stage, was carried out at the scene yesterday - but at first the language problems hindered the investigation. The advice from experts last night was to pay a great deal of attention to the high temperatures this month and to always make sure that if out hiking, that someone always knows where you are and where you are going, that plenty of water is being carried and the best item to also carry is a mobile telephone in case of any accidents. At this time of year, members of the Guardia Civil and Civil Protection department are never too far away, many are on forest fire patrols.