Four hikers who disappeared on Christmas Day were found dead after an avalanche buried them in the Vardousia Mountains, central Greece. The victims included three men and one woman. Their bodies were discovered on Friday evening partially covered by snow near the Korakas peak at around 2,000 meters. The search was difficult due to steep, inaccessible terrain and bad weather. The hikers began their climb in good weather, but conditions worsened quickly. Vasilis Vathrakogiannis of the Hellenic Fire Service told the BBC, "Weather conditions were extremely difficult, with low temperatures and poor visibility." This made drone and helicopter searches very hard. The alarm was raised by a friend after the three men failed to return on time. Rescue teams found the woman, who was not expected to be part of the climb, with them. Recovery work is ongoing, described as extremely challenging. One body was airlifted by helicopter. The others remain to be moved to a plateau for winch recovery. Haris Asariotakis, head of the rescue mission, said the site is difficult to reach. "It is about three hours from the village of Athanasios Diakos, at an altitude of 2,000m," he said. "If the helicopter is unable to reach the area, we will descend on foot with firefighters and mountain guides."