Man critically ill after fall into cave

A rescue operation was mounted on Sunday afternoon after the coastguard received a report that a man had fallen about 10m (33ft) through a hole into a cave at Dunluce Castle on the north coast.

It is understood his family had been with him at the time.

A small lifeboat entered the cave and rescued him, before he was transferred to a bigger lifeboat, and then transferred to a helicopter which took him to Belfast.

A spokeswoman for the Belfast health trust described him as being “seriously ill” in the Royal Victoria Hospital on Sunday night.

On Monday, a different spokeswoman for the trust said he was “critically ill”.

His exact age is not known.