TWO sisters have died during a walking trip in the Girona province after becoming lost and contracting hypothermia.

The women, Núria and Marta I.M., aged 43 and 45, from Barcelona, formed part of a group of five people out walking in the mountains in the Fontalba area of the village of Queralbs (Girona) yesterday.

They then lost their way and were unable to reach civilisation in time.

A man and two other women – Concepció M.I., 46, from Cornellà (Barcelona), and the Barcelona couple Andrés Lorenzo N.A., 60, and María Rosa P.E., 53, had to be taken to Girona's Campdevànol hospital when they were found by emergency services in a serious condition and suffering from exposure.

Firefighters and the Mossos d'Esquadra – Catalunya's answer to the Guardia Civil – started the search last night and found Núria and Marta at around 21.00hrs.

Later, the rest of the group were discovered at 01.00hrs.

The area, which is off the beaten track and difficult to access by road, is a high mountainous region with heavy snowfall.