Belgian climber falls to death on Mount Kenya

Nyeri, Kenya, Jan 23: A Belgian climber fell to his death on Mount Kenya after slipping off an ice ledge, rescuers said today.

The unidentified man was in the company of three others and a tour guide when he slipped and fell from one of the mountain's highest snow-capped peaks.

''They had climbed and watched the sunrise from Point Lenana when the tourist stepped on ice and slid down a steep cliff,'' volunteer mountain rescuer Charles Mathenge said.

Point Lenana is Mount Kenya's third highest peak at 4,985 metres.

Mount Kenya, an extinct volcano, is Africa's second highest peak after Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, and is located just south of the equator in central Kenya, about 180 km northeast of Nairobi.

REUTERS