Police name climber killed after Skye cliff fall

The Old Man Of Storr on Skye. Picture: Getty

A climber who plunged to his death on Skye after chasing camping equipment which had been blown away by wind has been named as a 25-year-old from Belgium.

Jan Vermerien was with a group of three others on The Old Man of Storr when the freak accident happened on Monday.

Police were contacted just before 9am following a report the man had fallen while camping at the 2359-ft summit.

A coordinated search was carried out involving police, Skye Mountain Rescue Team and Coastguard Helicopter Rescue 100.

The man was located and taken to Portree Helipad where he was pronounced dead.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “The man has been identified and family have been made aware and he can now named as Jan Vermeiren, 25, of Wommelgem, Belgium.

“A report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”

The mountain was used in Ridley Scott’s science-fiction film Prometheus, released last year.

The Old Man of Storr was also picked in 2011 as Britain’s only representative in a prestigious National Geographic calendar of the world.

Skye Mountain Rescue Teamleader Gerry Ackroyd said: “He just went over the edge and fell about 600 feet. It is very tragic.

“They had camped about 30 feet below the summit of the Storr and were decamping when the accident happened.

“The lad chased after something that was blowing away in the wind. It was a pure accident.

“They were in cloud and it was difficult to find the body – it involved searching a dozen gullies for three hours.”