GERMAN HIKERS RESCUED SAFELY

TWO German women were airlifted to safety yesterday morning after having lost their way while hiking in the Puig de Balitx area of Soller on Sunday evening. The Guardia Civil, which mounted the successful search and rescue operation, said yesterday that the two women, aged 36 and 40, were plucked to safety by a Guardia Civil helicopter at 8.15 am yesterday morning. The two had set out on a hike through the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range from the Ses Barques viewpoint, but lost their way and, as evening started to fall, contacted the emergency service to report that they were lost. The Guardia Civil, Red Cross and fire service mounted a search on Sunday, but failed to locate the two women.
However, at first light yesterday, the search resumed with the help of the Guardia Civil helicopter which found the two.
The women were flown to the Port of Soller where they were given a medical check-up. Neither of the women were injured during the ordeal and were eventually taken back to their hotel.
One of the Palma-based air-sea rescue spotter planes yesterday joined the hunt for the fishing trawler Nuevo bahía de Málaga which has been missing since Friday. The aircraft is combing the area from the south of the Balearics to where Spanish waters meet Algerian waters.
There the Algeria rescue services are taking care of the search for the trawler and its three-man crew.
Since Friday, there has been no contact with the fishing trawler, hence the search area includes most of Spanish waters in the Western Mediterranean.