A body has been found in the hunt for two British hikers and former Teddington School pupils who went missing in the Italian Dolomite mountains, rescuers confirmed yesterday, Wednesday 8 January.

Aziz Ziriat, 36, and his friend Samuel Harris, 35, both from London, were hiking in the Dolomites in northern Italy but they have not been heard from since 2.20pm on New Year's Day.

The body that was found has been revealed to be that of Samuel Harris'.

The men's family and friends became concerned when the two explorers missed their flights back to Britain on 6 January and alerted Italian authorities, who launched an urgent search, which has been hampered by heavy snow.

Italy's alpine rescue service resumed a helicopter search yesterday morning and tragically confirmed a body was found.

Italy's CNSAS (The National Alpine Cliff and Cave Rescue Corps) revealed that ground teams found a body in the area of Passo di Conca "sadly deceased, buried under the snow". 

Following the discovery of Mr Harris's body at 1pm, rescuers and sniffer dogs continued searching for his hiking partner until 1.30pm, when the hunt was called off due to worsening wind and fog. 

An investigation is under way into the circumstances of the incident, the spokesperson said. 

Earlier on Wednesday, rescuers said the men's backpacks and equipment were found during a search of a bivouac hut they are believed to have taken refuge in. 

It came after a video taken on the day they were last heard from revealed they had planned to leave their packs for a day before they moved to the next valley.

The discovery of Mr Harris's body came just hours after Mr Ziriat's girlfriend, Bex Dimmock, said their disappearance "just doesn't make sense'".

They confirmed a search for the second mountaineer would continue and that the families of both men had been informed. 

Mr Ziriat, who works for Crystal Palace's Palace for Life foundation, and Mr Harris' last known location is believed to have been close to a hut called Casina Dosson, which is near the town Tione Di Trento, near Riva del Garda, on Lake Garda.

The area has limited phone signal, and it's understood their phone batteries were running out.

Both men attended Teddington School on Broom Road, and it is understood Sam attended Collis School, also in Teddington.