Four men rescued from Benbulben mountain

Four men have been rescued after getting into difficulties on a popular Irish mountain.

The group became disorientated during bad weather on Benbulben in County Sligo on Monday.

Gardaí (Irish police) were alerted as local weather conditions deteriorated with heavy rain and gusting winds.

The Sligo/Leitrim Mountain Rescue Team (SLMRT) and a coastguard rescue helicopter were deployed to the mountainside shortly before 15:00 local time.

However, the helicopter was unable to reach the group because of low cloud cover and poor visibility.

A SLMRT spokesperson said that amid “concern for the casualties” the helicopter transported a number of responders from the roadside to a location on the mountain close to the stranded group.

They eventually reached the group “not far from the summit of the mountain while the helicopter remained on scene just below the cloud base”.

The four men, who had travelled to Sligo from another part of the country, were assessed at the scene and “deemed to be onset hypothermic”.

Responders set up an emergency shelter to help them to get warm enough to walk off the mountain.

“The team responders then escorted the casualties down the hill and handed them over to the waiting coastguard crew for further assessment and treatment,” the spokesperson added.

The rescue team has wished the men “a speedy recovery”.

They have also reminded hikers to check the weather forecast before setting out as “conditions can deteriorate much faster and to a worse degree than in lowland areas”.

At 526m tall, Benbulben is known as Ireland’s table-top mountain.