A tragic incident involved a dog walker falling 600 feet to his death from the peak of Helvellyn, one of Lake District’s highest mountains. The man had taken his black Labrador out on a walk, and his wife was getting worried when he failed to generate any movement on his phone for many hours. A search operation was eventually launched when he became missing.
Seven mountain rescue teams, two coastguard units, and two helicopters were used for the operation; all combed various routes leading to the summit. Challenging weather made it take the 68 rescuers from various teams two days to complete their mission. On the first day, the search team had to withdraw efforts at 1:30 am due to safety concerns of the rescuers.
On the second day, rescuers used a rope system to descend towards Red Tarn, where the dog was found safe on a ledge. Further searching led to the discovery of the man’s body near the lake on the mountain’s eastern side. The body was lowered and transported to Patterdale Base before being handed over to Cumbria Police.
It took 20 hours to complete, spanning two days. A spokesperson for the mountain rescue service sent condolences to the man’s family and friends as well as to the teams and helicopter crews who assisted in the rescue. The police say it does not seem suspicious.
