A British photographer collapsed and died after losing consciousness at the top of a Greek beauty spot this morning.
The man, who has not been identified, was found in the Vouraikos Gorge in Kalavryta after his friends called emergency services at around 8.30am today.
He was reportedly with other British and German hiking photographers hoping to capture the views as fighter jets flew overhead on the final day of the drills.
Friends tried in vain to revive the 67-year-old man. He was later declared dead at Kalavryta hospital.
Investigators are still working to establish the cause of death, and early impressions suggest he may have been suffering from an illness, according to local media.
General view of the Vouraikos Gorge in Kalavryta, Greece in 2018
Allied fighter jets taking part in NATO’s Ramstein Flag exercise take to the skies over Greece
Photographers were invited to attend NATO exercises on October 1 and 8.
Rescuers arrived and found the man already unconscious in the vineyards outside the town of Diakopto.
Police, firefighters and an ambulance quickly rushed to the scene to help.
The man was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, but was sadly pronounced dead on arrival.
Local firefighters posted on Twitter/X this morning but only confirmed that one man had been injured near the local caves.
‘An unconscious man was transported from a difficult location in the Kalavryton mega cave area and handed over to the EKAB (emergency teams).
‘(They brought) 7 firefighters with 2 vehicles.’
Last month, Greece began NATO exercises with aircraft, traversing the imposing geography of the Vouraikos Gorge.
140 aircraft were scheduled to participate locally in NATO’s Ramstein Flag 24 exercise, which would begin on September 30 and conclude today, October 11.
Photographers were invited to attend on October 1 and 8.
Thirteen allied nations participate in the joint exercises, practicing, among other things, integrated air and missile defense.
The British and American planes were joined by allies from Greece, Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden.
According to NATO: “Ramstein Flag is a tactical-level LIVEX sponsored by Allied Air Command that aims to provide participating nations, as the primary training audience, with high-level training opportunities that include realistic problem sets in an environment complex operation”.
