Noel Hanna: Mountaineer dies in Nepal expedition

Noel Hanna, a prominent mountaineer from Dromara in County Down, has died in Nepal.

It is understood that Mr Hanna died while on an expedition to Mount Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain in the world.

Mr Hanna was an experienced climber, having scaled Mount Everest 10 times in his career.

In 2018, he became the first person from the island of Ireland to successfully summit and descend K2.

Mr Hanna had scaled the 8,091m (26,545ft) Annapurna peak on Monday and died overnight at a camp after making his descent, Irish broadcaster RTÉ reports.

A second climber from India is also reportedly missing after falling into a crevasse.

Mourne Mountain Adventures, a guided hiking company based in Kilkeel, has paid tribute to Mr Hanna.

In a social media post, the company said: "There is some peace in that he spent his last moments doing what he loved best, such a great man and one of N Ireland's finest mountaineers."

Dan McFarland, the head coach at Ulster Rugby, tweeted: "Very sad to hear of Noel's passing. Noel was a great inspiration to this team.

"All our thoughts are with Lynne and Noel's family."