Three Irishmen die in climbing accidents abroad in one week

A 55-year-old Co Donegal man has become the third Irishman to die in a climbing accident abroad in the space of a week.

Hugh Sharkey died on the way to hospital in southern Jordan last Friday from injuries sustained in a fall. His death follows those of a 26-year-old Irish walker in Tenerife on Tuesday and a 61-year-old Waterford man on Snowdon in Wales the previous Friday.

Mr Sharkey and his climbing partner Gerry Moss had just arrived in Jordan the previous day and were beginning their first climb in the area of Wadi Rum, an area in the south of the country popular with rockclimbers.

Mr Sharkey was ascending a relatively straightforward section of the climb when he fell off without warning, Mr Moss has told friends. He suffered severe internal injuries but remained conscious. Rescue efforts were hampered by the remoteness of the area and the fact that Friday is the Muslim equivalent of the Sabbath. He died while being taken to hospital in Aqaba.

Mr Sharkey was a hugely experienced climber and a leading member of the Irish Mountaineering Club. "Hugh was well-liked and much respected as a climber. He helped and trained many younger members and was regarded as one of the safest people to climb with," Kevin Byrne, president of the club, said last night.

A father of a six-year-old son, Conor, Mr Sharkey was from near Kincasslagh, but had lived in Dublin for many years.

Meanwhile, the young Irishman who plunged to his death in Tenerife last week has been named as John McConnell from Dublin. He tripped while out walking and fell over 1,000 feet down the Clabacera canyon in La Punta de Teno. Rescue teams spent two days looking for him after his Spanish wife reported him missing.

The third mountain fatality, Donal McGrath, was buried in his native Waterford on Friday. A member of Comeragh Mountaineering Club, he fell during a descent of Snowdon on St Patrick's Day. Mr McGrath was a retired Fás instructor who had taken part in mountaineering trips to South America, the Alps and Everest base camp.