Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has issued a statement following the death of an Irish national who died while climbing Mt Kenya.
The Irish national developed difficulties in breathing on the morning of January 28.
He was at the time resting at the Australian hut, a major stopover for mountain climbers.
“KWS wishes to inform the public that at around 6am on Thursday January 28, an Irish national who went mountain climbing on Mt Kenya developed some breathing problems in one of the stopovers, Australian hut,” KWS said in a statement.
After raising alarm, the Irish national was hurriedly evacuated to Mackinder’s from where he was picked by a helicopter and rushed to Nanyuki Cottage Hospital.
However, he was pronounced dead on arrival
Regrettably, he was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
According to KWS, the climber was 40 years old. He began his journey to the summit of Mt Kenya from Naromoru
“The 40-year-old male accessed Mt. Kenya National Park through Naromoru gate on 25th January 2021. Our sincere condolences to the family,” the statement added.
In 2012, a then 29-year-old man died while hiking at Point Lenana. He was together with his 27 colleagues from Nairobi.
Just like the Irish national, he was quickly moved to Mackidner’s from where a KWS sought the services of a private helicopter to airlift him to hospital.
However, due to bad weather, the chopper could not land.
Back in the 1970s, another Australian climber, Gurd Judmaier and fell from one the peaks.
He fell into 80-foot chasm. It took 13 days for the rescue operation which ended up claiming the life if a helicopter pilot that crashed during the rescue effort.
This is when a special rescue team in Mt Kenya was formed.
