British woman dies after being attacked by stray dogs in Greece
A retired academic telephoned her family for help as she lay dying after being attacked by stray dogs while on holiday in Greece.
The body of the 62-year-old was found by an emergency rescue team on Saturday, two days after she made her distress call.
The victim, who was named locally as Celia Hollingworth, had suffered wounds that were consistent with being mauled by animals. UK authorities did not dispute the dead woman’s identity.
She had been visiting an archaeological site at Mesimvria in northern Greece, close to the border with Turkey, and had decided to walk at least part of the way back to her guesthouse in the nearby town of Maroneia.
She was last seen by bathers at Petrota beach at 4.30pm on Thursday, which is close to the archaeological site.
Ms Hollingworth, from Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire, worked at Bristol University. Local reports claimed she was also an Oxford Univeristy professor although the Telegraph was unable to confirm this at the time of going to press last night.
She had raised money for Greek charities helping Syrian refugees in the country and had supported a Greek trades union official who was facing prosecution in his home country. Ms Hollingworth was an official with the University and College Union, representing academics and lecturers, and was an active human rights campaigner.
When Ms Hollingworth’s family in London received the emergency phone call, relatives contacted authorities in the area, claimed local television reports. Authorities began a widespread search before finding the body after a lengthy search.
Her body was found by police and firefighters at 10.45am local time on Saturday.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in contact with Greek police in relation to a British woman missing in northern Greece since Thursday.
“We are also providing consular assistance to her family.”
The woman’s family is believed to be travelling to Greece.
There are reported to be more than one million stray dogs in the country after many were abandoned following its financial crisis.
Locals in the area said the path she had been walking on was commonly used but that it passed near farms where guard dogs were deployed. It is possible, said a source, that she had been attacked by a territorial guard dog protecting a local farm.
