Irishman dies after fall from Italian mountain

An Irish citizen has died after falling from a mountain while hiking in northern Italy. The man, who was 64, has been named as Anthony Hunter in Italian media outlets. Mr Hunter died after falling on the 2,000 metre Monte Lagna peak in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a region in north-east Italy on Tuesday. Mr Hunter is understood to have been a long-term resident of the town of Gorizia, which is on the border with Slovenia and around 140kms south of the mountain where he lost his life. Reports say the alarm was raised by Mr Hunter's wife after she became concerned for him. She had been speaking to him earlier in the day and he told her he had lost his way while on a hike, but had the situation under control and had managed to reach the summit of the mountain. But the wife then contacted the emergency services and a full scale search operation was launched. Volunteer rescuers from the Forni di Sopra Alpine Search unit then started scouring the area but Mr Hunter's body was later spotted by a helicopter crew around 200 metres from the summit he had reached earlier in the day. His body was later removed from the scene. The search unit said on a Facebook post that the alarm was raised at around 8.30pm on Tuesday. The unit said: "The man's wife raised the alarm. "They had spoken to each other on the phone earlier in the day and he told her he had lost his way, but that everything was under control and had actually managed to reach the final crest. "The rescuers went up with off-road vehicles to search the route, aiming first at the three support structures present along the forest track, but then the aerial search led to the sighting two hundred meters below the summit. The cause of the fall couldn't be determined, the man may have slipped or may have had a sudden illness. "The remains were recovered by the regional rescue and handed over to the funeral home. The operation ended at half past midnight." The Irish Mirror has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs for comment. Want to see more of the stories you love from Dublin Live? Making us your preferred source on Google means you’ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Dublin Live as a preferred source, simply click here . Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.