Missing climber found dead after plunge down cliff
An 11-year-old boy is airlifted by rescue helicopter from the Clare Glens, Newport, Co Tipperary, on Monday following an abseiling accident. Hospital sources say he is expected to make a full recovery.
Wednesday May 07 2008
Searchers discovered the body of the 30-year-old man yesterday afternoon after an extensive air and ground search.
The discovery was made at 4.10pm by members of the Sligo-Leitrim Mountain Rescue team in the Gleniff Valley at Ben Bulben, Co Sligo.
One of its leaders, Alan Sayers, said: "The cliff has a sheer drop of 500ft. Then there's another 800ft of very steep, slanting ground. We presume he was trying to make his way along the top of the cliff towards Ben Wiskin and lost his footing and fell. It's likely the man died instantly."
Earlier yesterday, two men who had been out walking with the dead man on the day he disappeared, rejoined the search on the instructions of gardai after they had returned to their Dublin homes in the middle of the search.
Gardai said the pair reported the disappearance at 9pm on Monday, four hours after he failed to keep a rendezvous at the foot of the mountain.
They directed searchers to the area where they last saw the victim and then drove back to Dublin at 2am yesterday.
By yesterday afternoon, they returned to Sligo on garda instructions to rejoin the search.
All three are Poles but the missing man was barely known to the other two.
A senior garda officer said: "It seems they met over a pint in a pub and casually asked the other man if he would care to join them and he accepted.
The two pals reached the bottom near Cliffoney and, after waiting four hours in vain for the other man, they drove 12km to report him missing to gardai in Bundoran, Co Donegal.
Mountain rescue teams from Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal joined the search at 8am yesterday, assisted by the S-61 Coastguard helicopter from Strandhill in Co Sligo.
Six separate teams completed searches of the mountain plateau and the cliff edge from Kingscully to Swiss Valley, before moving three kilometres west back towards Cliffoney yesterday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a young boy who fell during an abseiling accident on Monday is expected to make a full recovery.
The child, believed to be 11-years-old, was rescued from the Clare Glens near Newport, Co Tipperary, on Monday. He was abseiling down the mountain when he slipped.
Emergency services were contacted and he was eventually airlifted to hospital.
- Paddy Clancy and Barry Duggan
