British climber dies in RAK mountain fall
EMBASSY PROVIDING CONSULAR SUPPORT TO FAMILY OF BRITON
British Embassy officials are providing support to the family of a Briton who plunged to his death on a solo climb in the rocky, mountainous terrain here on Saturday.
“We are providing consular support to the family of a British national who has died in the UAE,” an official told Gulf News yesterday.
The British tourist fell to his death while hiking the upper reaches of the local mountain range near Al Beih.
Police said early medical examination indicated he died from severe injuries.
The ring of mountains running through Ras Al Khaimah is a popular destination for British trekkers.
Emergency authorities responded after the RAK police operations room received a call on Saturday that a man had fallen in the Al Beih valley.
“We contacted the police once we saw the man fall into the middle of the mountain,” Ahmad Al Shehi, a RAK resident, told Gulf News.
The body of the climber was wrapped in a white sheet by authorities on a cliffside strewn with boulders before it was airlifted to hospital by a Sharjah Police Air Wing team on Saturday afternoon.
Police said the 22-year-old British man — identified only as J.A.F. — was unaccompanied on his mountain trek when tragedy struck. Hospital officials, meanwhile, confirmed the tourist died from severe injuries in the fall.
Police urge caution
Police officials urged tourists and residents to be cautious when visiting the mountains and not to venture out on such trips in the evening due to the remoteness of the area and poor light.
Police said the area requires special coordination by seasoned climbers. The death comes almost four months after a British national of Pakistani origin died August 29 this year from heat exposure and dehydration while hiking on an Omani mountainside along the UAE border, according to Royal Oman Police (ROP).
UAE resident Bushra Farooqui succumbed to the elements after she inexplicably broke away from her 12-member hiking party and could not be located by Omani search and rescue parties.