A teenage holidaymaker has died after falling 500ft while climbing a Highland mountain.
Police said that 16-year-old Timothy Murray from the West Yorkshire area fell while walking on Stac Pollaidh north of Ullapool.
Emergency services were made aware of the incident after the boy was reported overdue shortly before 4.45pm on Sunday.
He was located a short time later by the HM Coastguard helicopter and his body was recovered by Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team.
In a statement issued through police, his family said: “It is a very sad loss and Timothy was a lovely son.
“We would ask that our privacy is respected at this difficult time.”
Sergeant Kay MacRae said: “Our thoughts are with Timothy’s family and friends at this tragic time.
“We would like to thank our partners in Dundonnell Mountain Rescue for their assistance with this challenging incident.
“A report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal, as is standard procedure with sudden deaths.”
Donald MacRae, team leader of Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team, said: “We got a call just before 5pm about a missing person on Stac Pollaidh. There was little information to go on at the time.
“When we arrived on scene we got more information to make us understand the boy was missing on the ridge. He had been missing for some time.
“Because we were dealing with reducing light conditions we got the rescue helicopter from Stornoway.
“They came on scene and assisted us to try to locate the boy, which they managed to do, but they weren’t able to get near him because of where he was. It was near some large cliffs on the west side of the mountain.
“It was difficult for them to get near him. We had 15 team members who walked in in failing conditions. We managed to locate him, this was in darkness and mist. He had sustained fatal injuries. We believe he had fallen about 490ft. We stretchered him out and were back at the roadside by 1am.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to the family. Our thoughts are very much with them.”
