Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Bodies of two men found on Highland mountain after suffering fall

Ben Hope.
Ben Hope.

Two men have died after suffering a fall on Ben Hope in Sutherland.

Concerns were raised for the two walkers at around 3.45pm yesterday afternoon.

A search operation was launched involving the Assynt Mountain Rescue Team and HM Coastguard helicopter.

Police confirmed that the bodies of the men were discovered by the helicopter crew, on the north-west side of the mountain, shortly after 2am this morning.

The bodies have now been recovered.

Inspector Kevin Macleod said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of both of these men at this tragic time.

“I would also like to pass on our gratitude to the volunteers of Assynt Mountain Rescue Team for their efforts in extremely challenging conditions.”

A spokeswoman for the Maritime Coastguard Agency said the initial reports were that at least one of the hikers had fallen between 656ft to 984ft and that they had raised the alarm by mobile phone. At least one of them had suffered back injuries.

Ben Hope is the most northerly of the Munros and is situated six miles south west of Tongue.

Local Highland Councillor Hugh Morrison, who runs Smoo Cave Hotel in nearby Durness, said: “We get a lot of people stay with us just to climb Ben Hope – even in winter – because it’s the most northerly Munro.

“The north westerly side they have been found on is very sheer – and they would not have stood much of a chance falling far on that side.

“But I regard Ben Hope as a very safe mountain – in fact I can’t think of any previous fatality there in over 30 years. There are very few accidents.

“My heartfelt condolences go out their families, friends and all involved. It is a terrible tragedy.”

Mr Morrison, who represents the North, West and Central Sutherland Ward, added: “I would also like to praise the volunteers of Assynt Mountain Rescue Team, led by team leader Susan Agnew, for the tremendous and difficult job they have done – especially in such bad weather conditions.”