Climbers die in Nevis falls

The climbers died in falls on Ben Nevis

Two climbers have died in falls on Britain's highest mountain in two days.

A woman was killed in a freak incident after she dug in with a companion for the night but rolled down a slope to her death.

The two women had climbed to the summit of the 4,406ft-high mountain along Tower Ridge, one of the most gruelling routes.

In extreme weather conditions they decided to dig in for the night. But in the darkness, one of the women appears to have rolled away down a steep slope and suffered head injuries.

Her companion made her comfortable and walked off the mountain to raise the alarm - but by the time she was flown to hospital, she was dead.

Heart mission

A man who plunged down Green Gully on Saturday died in Fort William's Belford Hospital on Sunday and an attempt to use his heart for a life-saving transplant failed.

The man, who was from the north of England, was discovered at about 1530GMT on Saturday after his two companions alerted a passing RAF helicopter which was on a mission to rescue another climber nearby.

The heart was removed in Belford Hospital

He was taken from Green Gully with the help of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team.

A Northern Constabulary spokesman said: "It seems he had fallen from virtually the top of the gully.

"He was very poorly and had head injuries when he was discovered."

A specialist team flew from Glasgow to Fort William to remove the heart which was to be taken to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield.

Time expired

But it was delayed by bad weather and was flown by rescue helicopter to RAF Kinloss on Monday morning.

A private aircraft flew to the Moray airbase to pick up the heart to fly it on to Sheffield - but time had run out on the mission and plans for the transplant had to be abandoned.