Cairo, June 17: An adventurous mountaineer known as the “Yemeni Spider-Man” has died after falling down a rocky wall of a volcanic crater without any safety equipment.
Al-Qaka ibn Antar, 30, lost control while climbing the steep wall of the Harda Dam volcanic crater in southern Yemen’s Dhahran province on Friday and fell about 120 meters (393 feet) into the crater, the Civil Defense Authority said.
The authority shared a video of his fall on social media. In the nearly 10-second video, Antar is seen climbing a rocky cliff without any safety equipment. The rock he was climbing had some names written in white in Arabic.
Video goes viral
In the video, he is seen holding a rock with his right hand and raising his left hand in the air. Moments later, his right hand loses control and he falls into a deep hole.
Rescue teams, including divers and hydrologists, were sent to retrieve Antar’s body. The divers later found his body about 30 meters (100 feet) below the surface.
The search and rescue operation, which lasted about four hours, was extremely complex, the Civil Defense Authority said. The steep and rocky terrain around the crater was said to have hampered the rescue effort.
Unique volcanic crater:
Haradhat Damt is a unique volcanic crater located near the city of Damt in the southern Dhale province of Yemen. The main attraction of the area is the crater with steep rock walls and a hot sulfur lake at its bottom.
Antar was very popular on social media. He used to share videos of his adventurous mountaineering adventures in the most inaccessible and dangerous areas of Yemen. Several of his videos went viral. In one video, he performed a dangerous stunt in which he hung from the edge of a cliff with only his hands and feet dangling over a deep slope without any safety equipment.
Following the incident, the Civil Defense Authority appealed to those involved in mountaineering and adventure sports to strictly follow safety rules. The authority warned that using appropriate protective safety equipment is essential to avoid similar tragedies.