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Altar Knotto: attraction for mountain hikers in the Vicentine Alps
Photo: REDA&CO / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
A man has died while hiking in the Italian Alps while trying to catch a cell phone that his partner had lost.
The 30-year-old Italian fell on Saturday afternoon at the Altar Knotto rock formation in the Vicentine Alps in the northern Italian region of Veneto, the authorities said.
As the Italian daily newspaper "Corriere della Sera" reported in its Sunday edition, the young couple set off on their hike on Saturday and followed a path towards the Altar Knotto rock formation.
At a vantage point, the young woman wanted to take a picture of the landscape when she lost her cell phone.
When trying to retrieve the mobile phone, the man slipped and fell about 200 meters.
Both had previously documented their hike on social networks and shared photos of themselves.
After the fall, the woman alerted the mountain rescuers.
When rescuers arrived at the scene of the accident, they found the young woman in shock.
The mountain rescue team then roped emergency services to the scene of the accident by helicopter in order to recover the dead.
According to the Ansa news agency, the police have started investigations into the course of the accident.
mike/dpa
