A full scale rescue operation was under way tonight for a man trapped under several boulders at the base of a 600ft cliff.
Emergency services are still trying to free the man who is stranded near Fair Head in Co Antrim.
The alarm was raised at 2.30pm when a member of the public heard cries for help at the bottom of the cliff.
A specialist coastguard team trained in cliff rescue found the man at the base of the cliff pinned by several large boulders that had fallen on him when he was about to begin climbing.
A coastguard spokeswoman said the team were unable to free him because of the weight of the rocks.
The Sligo based Irish Coast Guard helicopter was sent to Belfast to pick up a fire crew and equipment needed to attempt to free the man.
A doctor who specialises in crush injuries was also winched down to the casualty, as the helicopter was sent back to Belfast to retrieve more equipment.
Brett Cunningham, Coastal Safety Manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said the operation was a true multi-agency rescue.
“With police, fire and ambulance services on scene, as well the Coastguard Rescue Team, lifeboat crew, Irish Coast Guard helicopter crew and the specialist crew and doctor en route we are doing all we can to safely rescue the man from the cliffs and prevent further injury occurring,” he added.
Meanwhile in a separate incident a woman was rescued from an underground cave in Co Clare.
It is understood the potholer became trapped for some time at the bottom of a 30 metre cave in the Burren, near the village of Fanore.
A spokesman for the Valencia coastguard station, which co-ordinated the rescue attempt, said she was recovered safe and well.
Elsewhere a volunteer coastguard saved the life of a teenage boy during an overnight rescue in Lough Neagh.
Eddie Magee was staying on his boat in Kinnego Marina when he heard a group of youths in distress.
He discovered one of the boys in the water a short distance from the shore with a head wound.
Mr Magee estimates the youth had been in the water for half an hour.
“He was very confused and disoriented. He was very cold,” Mr Magee told BCC Northern Ireland.
“If I hadn’t have been there the chances are we would be looking for a body this morning.”
PA