Irish woman, 21, dies after falling while rock climbing near Malaga in Spain

The incident occurred near to the village of El Chorro close to the famous Caminito del Rey pathway. File photo

An Irish woman has died after falling in a popular rock climbing area near Malaga in southern Spain.

The woman, aged 21, was killed after plunging around 500ft.

Her body was rescued by emergency services after the alarm was raised just after 7pm on Friday.

A male friend she was with managed to grab onto a bush-covered rock that was jutting out from the rest as he fell alongside his climbing companion.

He was said to have been in a state of shock when he was rescued alive.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it is aware of the case and providing consular assistance. "As with all consular cases, the Department does not comment on the details of individual cases," a spokesperson said.

Friday’s incident occurred near to the village of El Chorro close to the famous Caminito del Rey pathway. The spot the climbers were in is called the Swiss Sector next to a hiking area called the Arabic Staircase.

The unnamed mountaineers are understood to have spent the day rock climbing and are thought to have suffered their accident as they made their descent after taking the wrong route by mistake.

The survivor has told police they lost their balance and went over the side of a ravine.

Local press initially reported the victim was of British origin, in line with the information given out earlier by police sources.

But this afternoon the Civil Guard, the police force investigating the incident, confirmed she was an Irish national.

A spokesman for the force in Malaga said: “I can confirm the woman who died was an Irish 21-year-old.” 

It was not immediately clear if she was on holiday in the area or lived in Spain or where in Ireland she came from. The nationality of the man she was with is not yet known.

Last month a British climber died in the same area.