A body has been recovered in the search for a missing rock climber off the coast of Baltimore in Co Cork.
The 27-year-old Italian man was climbing at Eastern Hole in Baltimore Harbour on Thursday evening. The alarm was raised by his girlfriend at 8.30pm.
A search of the area was carried out last night and halted at 1am. It later resumed at 6am on Friday and involved two Coast Guard helicopters: Rescue 115 from Shannon and Rescue 117 from Waterford - the RNLI from Baltimore, along with the Civil Defence and gardaí. Local fisherman were also involved in the search.
A local diver recovered a body this morning.
RM Block
It is understood climbing gear belonging to the man was found on the sea cliffs at about 11.30pm on Thursday night. This assisted the team in pinpointing a particular area of the water to search this morning.
A spokesperson for Baltimore RNLI confirmed the search has now been called off.
The local coroner has been informed and the body of the deceased has been taken to Cork University Hospital where a postmortem examination will be carried out.
