Local authorities in Madeira have confirmed that two corpses found there were those of two previously missing Aarhus women.
Portuguese TV channel SIC NotÃcias reported that the two bodies found were 73-year-old Ulla Linnea Ruby and 77-year-old Amalie Kjerstine Flindt, who had been reported missing since Sunday.
Rescue crews found the bodies in a nature area on the island that was not easily accessible. A backpack believed to belong to one of the women was found on a hiking trail, leading rescuers to spot the bodies in an overgrown thicket 20 metres below.
The two Danish women arrived in Madeira last week on Thursday and were reported missing on Sunday when hotel staff noticed they had not returned to their rooms. Both were described as experienced hikers and according to the travel agency Aarhus Charter, the weather in Madeira had been clear and dry.
Final confirmation of the bodiesÂ’ identities has not yet occurred, but Danish authorites have notified the relatives of the two missing women. Official identification will occur in MadeiraÂ’s largest city, Funchal, but the Danish Foreign Ministry did not yet know when the confirmation would occur.