More people could die on remote mountains unless police do a better job in responding to dropped 999 calls, a coroner has warned.
The bodies of friends Eddie Hill, 20, and Jayden Long, 19, both from Dereham, Norfolk, were found on a mountain ridge in Eryri, also known as Snowdonia, on 19 February, a day after a call from Long to North Wales Police was disconnected.
Officers did try unsuccessfully to call him back, but then made “limited” efforts to find out who owned the phone and took more than three hours to alert mountain rescue, assistant coroner Sarah Riley said.
North Wales Police said it had taken steps to strengthen its policies and procedures.
Hill and Long died in extreme winter conditions on Crib y Ddysgl, a ridge that peaks at 1,065m (3,494ft), less than a mile north of Yr Wyddfa’s summit and linking it to the notoriously narrow ridge of Crib Goch.
A Prevention of Future Deaths, external report said police received a discontinued call from Long’s mobile phone at 16:27 GMT on 18 February.
A playback captured him saying “hello” and “can you hear me?” before the call was lost.