18-year-old woman dies after north Highland cliff fall; man taken to Raigmore Hospital
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An 18-year-old woman died after emergency services were called out to an incident in Thurso last night after two people had been reported to have fallen from a cliff.
An HM Coastguard helicopter was involved in the police-led rescue operation at a clifftop near Victoria Walk.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 5.50pm on Monday, 11 July, 2022, officers were called to the Victoria Walk area in Thurso, following a report of a man and woman having fallen from a cliff.
“Emergency services and Coastguard attended but an 18-year-old woman had died. Her next of kin have been informed. Her death is being treated as unexplained and enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing.
“A 26-year-old man was taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness for treatment."
HM Coastguard said that police led the operation and stressed the sensitivity of the operation. “HM Coastguard has been involved in an incident in Thurso. Wick, Scrabster and Duncansby coastguard rescue teams were sent along with the Thurso RNLI lifeboat for sea cover," said its spokesperson last night. "The HM coastguard helicopter from Inverness was sent. One person has been taken to Raigmore Hospital by helicopter.”
Thurso RNLI Lifeboat The Taylors was launched at 6.06pm in response "to the report of a man and woman having fallen from a cliff west of Thurso Caravan Park". Along with the coastguard, ambulance and police the lifeboat arrived at the scene at 6.08pm and immediately launched its inflatable ‘Y’ boat with two crew members on board.
The RNLI spokesperson said: "The Y boat was beached and the two crew members quickly located the two casualties, one male and one female, lying on the rocks at the bottom of 50ft sheer cliffs. The crew members attended to them until the arrival of a paramedic who was winched down from the Search and Rescue helicopter from Inverness.
"The young man was winched up by the helicopter to a waiting ambulance. The female casualty was transferred to a stretcher and taken by the ‘Y’ boat to The Taylors and then taken to Scrabster where she was transferred into the care of Police Scotland."
The Taylors was cleaned and made ready for service at 8.15pm.
Commenting on the tragic event, Thurso and Northwest Caithness councillor Matthew Reiss said: "First and foremost, my thoughts are with the families of the people involved.
"It's clearly a very serious incident. I watched the coastguard helicopter from my home address, hovering over Thurso Bay. It's the second time in the space of a few days that the north coast emergency services have been involved in a serious incident – the first one being the Alfred grounding in the Pentland Firth.
"It is extremely reassuring to see the coastguard, lifeboat, police and other emergency services working together as they do so well. It's a reminder that accidents don't always happen in the depths of winter and they can occur at any time. It's also a reminder for people to take care on walks around the area."
There has been no update with regard to the condition of the male casualty taken to Raigmore Hospital.
