Rock climber’s fall on Mount Stuart suspends Defence training
Defence training needed to be suspended after a rock climber was seriously injured when he was struck by a large falling rock.
Townsville
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Defence training needed to be suspended after a rock climber was seriously injured when he was struck by a large falling rock.
The climber, Argentinian Lautaro Arellano, needed to be winched off a cliff face after falling about 20 metres last Tuesday.
“During the event, Defence temporarily suspended all training in the area to support the rescue and resumed again once the training area was confirmed clear,” a Defence spokeswoman said.
“At this location, the cliff edge is on the boundary to Defence land, a closed training area adjacent to Lavarack Barracks. A significant part of Mount Stuart is used by Defence as a closed training area.”
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Lautaro’s brother, Francisco, said the injured climber suffered broken ribs, an injury to his spleen and elbow after the rock “the size of a football” fell and struck him.
He was winched from the cliff by the Townsville QGAir helicopter because of the difficult terrain.
Defence said the climbers accessed the cliff on Townsville City Council land.
“The climbers were not permitted to access Defence land, but when the climber fell, he came to rest on the cliff edge just inside the Defence training area boundary. Defence will not be seeking any trespass action against the climber,” the Defence spokeswoman said.
Lautaro is recovering in Townsville University Hospital.
A GoFundMe page was set up for him last week to help cover medical costs. It has since raised more than $22,000.
Originally published as Rock climber’s fall on Mount Stuart suspends Defence training