Orkney Cliff Fall Teenager Rescued

A 15-year-old boy has been rescued after falling down a cliff on the Orkney Isles.

The incident happened north east of Hoy around the cliffs at the Bay of Tongue around 6pm on Tuesday.

The boy, understood to be German, was with his uncle and sister when he fell, suffering a leg injury. He was semi-conscious and his position - 200 metres uphill from the beach - was described as "inaccessible".

His relatives had been able to give him initial first aid, splinted his leg and wrapped him in a blanket. He was sheltering in a hollow.

The group were located around 8.15pm and the teenager was airlifted to hospital.

The Hoy and Stromness Coastguard Rescue Teams were called and the Stromness RNLI all weather lifeboat was requested to launch, while the Coastguard helicopter was also scrambled.

Martin Sykes, Duty Watch Manager at Shetland Coastguard, said it was a "difficult and challenging rescue". He said: "The Stromness Team were flown to the approximate location by helicopter, and we were able to ask the lad's uncle by mobile phone to wave a lamp in the fog to try and attract attention both from the seaward side and the lifeboat and from the air by helicopter.

"Using his mobile phone he was able to describe the sound of the helicopter as being louder or softer, as the group was unsure of their own exact position. The teams put on the ground locally also used whistles and the first informant was able to describe how close and in what position he could hear the sound, to try and help the Coastguards locate him.

"The lifeboat crew also set off a flare in an effort to identify how close they were to the group of three and to provide an additional point of light by which the uncle could get a bearing. The helicopter swept over the lifeboat once the uncle could recognise how close or far he was from the sound and light which he could vaguely hear and see."

(KMcA/BMcC)