Musings from the Merse
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
A sad reminder of the danger of walking in the beautiful Mournes was brought home to people by the death of a man on Slieve Donard last Saturday. A lightning strike in a chilly December is a rare enough event but the odds against a hit on an individual in such a large isolated area must be considerable. We were all aware of intense activity at the Police Station a few doors away with a helicopter landing in the grounds but had no idea what was going on until having rumours confirmed by this story in the Belfast Newsletter.
Lightning theory in mountain fatality
A man whose body was found in the Mournes on Saturday may have been struck by lightning.
A post-mortem examination revealed that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the man's death, a police spokesman said yesterday.He said a possible cause of death was that the man, believed to be in his 30s, had been struck by lightning.A group of walkers discovered the body, which was partially covered with snow, at the entrance to a stone shelter at the top of Slieve Donard.A police search and rescue team and a police doctor were airlifted to the scene in a Dublin-based coastguard helicopter after the alarm was raised at 2pm on Saturday.Around 850 metres high, Slieve Donard is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland.Ed Kilgore of the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team said the man was well-equipped and had plenty of food with him.He said conditions had been fairly cold in the area and there had been snow on higher ground in the early hours of Saturday."There is lightning in the mountains at times and storms and the danger being, because you are that bit higher up, the chances of strikes are possibly a little more risky," he said.
Lightning theory in mountain fatality
A man whose body was found in the Mournes on Saturday may have been struck by lightning.
A post-mortem examination revealed that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the man's death, a police spokesman said yesterday.He said a possible cause of death was that the man, believed to be in his 30s, had been struck by lightning.A group of walkers discovered the body, which was partially covered with snow, at the entrance to a stone shelter at the top of Slieve Donard.A police search and rescue team and a police doctor were airlifted to the scene in a Dublin-based coastguard helicopter after the alarm was raised at 2pm on Saturday.Around 850 metres high, Slieve Donard is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland.Ed Kilgore of the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team said the man was well-equipped and had plenty of food with him.He said conditions had been fairly cold in the area and there had been snow on higher ground in the early hours of Saturday."There is lightning in the mountains at times and storms and the danger being, because you are that bit higher up, the chances of strikes are possibly a little more risky," he said.
Comments:
An alert bloggee has noticed a nonsense in Huttonian's comment about this sad tory. It is a chilly April not a chilly December -but given the current cold snap the slip is understandable
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