Avalanche risk pauses hiker search

THE search for a student from Bristol, who went missing after hiking alone in the Romanian mountains two weeks ago, has been paused due to increasing avalanche risks.

- 

George Smyth, 18, has not been heard from since he contacted emergency services in Romania to say he was exhausted and suffering from hypothermia on November 23.

George’s phone last had a signal near the Tiganesti Valley, an isolated, high-altitude location 6,562 feet above sea level, where he made his desperate emergency call.