A man in his mid-50s fell to his death while climbing the highest mountain in Ireland.
The man died in the incident on Carrauntoohill in County Kerry at around midday today.
It is believed the man was Irish and had been walking on the hills before he fell a considerable distance, Rte reported.
The Kerry Mountain Rescue Team was scrambled along with a helicopter from the Coast Guard based at Shannon, but neither were able to reach the point where the man had fallen.
In order to get round the difficult terrain and to the fallen man, the helicopter picked up mountain rescue team members and flew them as close as possible to the scene.
Mum watched son's plane hit the towers in harrowing new 9/11 account
They managed to reach the man who was then stretchered down the mountain.
"A man was fatally injured after suffering a fall while climbing Carrauntoohil," a garda spokeswoman confirmed.
It is not clear when exactly he was pronounced dead.
His body will be taken to the University Hospital Kerry in Tralee for a post-mortem examination.
At 1,038m Carrauntoohill is one of only three mountains taller than 1,000m in Ireland.
