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A 21-year-old woman has died after falling approximately 500ft from a rock climbing area in Malaga, Spain. The incident occurred on Friday evening when the woman and her friend were practicing rock climbing and suddenly plummeted. Emergency services arrived at the scene at 7:10 pm, and the woman was pronounced dead shortly after, Metro reported.
The male companion, who was climbing with her, managed to grab onto a rocky outcropping covered in bushes, breaking his fall. He was said to have been in a state of shock when he was rescued alive.
The fatal rock climbing incident occurred near the village of El Chorro, in the Swiss Sector area, close to the Arabic Staircase hiking trail and the renowned Caminito del Rey pathway. According to reports, the climbers had spent the day in the area and, while returning, mistakenly took the wrong route. The male survivor recounted to police that they lost their balance and fell over the side of a ravine. Initially, local media reported the victim as British, but the Civil Guard later confirmed that she was an Irish national.
A spokesman for the force in Malaga said: "I can confirm the woman who died was an Irish 21-year-old."
A similar tragedy occurred in the same area last month, on December 11, when a 20-year-old British climber fell and sustained injuries at Puente del Mono, or Monkey Bridge, near the village of El Chorro. The man was knocked unconscious and had gone into cardiac arrest by the time emergency responders arrived. Despite a helicopter rescue, he was pronounced dead. The incident happened near the famous Caminito del Rey path, once notorious as the most dangerous walk in the world. The man was reportedly crossing a via ferrata climbing route, which features a metal rail bolted into the mountain for safety.
A spokesman for the Guardia Civil in Malaga said after last month's tragedy: "Members of the specialist Civil Guard Greim mountain rescue team based in Alora near Malaga, supported by a Civil Guard helicopter based in Granada, have rescued the body of a young British man.
He had suffered a fall while he was crossing a via ferrata in the area known as Monkey Bridge near to El Chorro. When officers reached the man he had gone into cardiac arrest. Despite practicing CPR on him and evacuating him rapidly from the scene by helicopter to a nearby heliport where medical services were waiting, they were only able to confirm his death.''
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