Al-Qaqa Ibn Antar, an adventurer known as the “Spider-Man of Yemen”, died after falling into a volcanic crater while attempting to climb a vertical mountain face without safety equipment.
He was climbing the steep volcanic wall of the Hardah Dam volcano in Dahl in southern province on Friday when he lost control and fell into a 120-meter (393-foot) crater, civil defense authorities said. They also posted a short video capturing the incident.
The 10-second video shows Antar climbing the rock without any safety equipment. His name is written in white letters in Arabic on the rock wall he is climbing. He is then seen holding the rock with his left hand in the void with his right hand while his right hand seems to have lost control.
Rescue teams, including divers and water experts, were dispatched to retrieve Antar’s body, which divers found 30 meters (100 ft) below the water’s surface. Authorities described the four-hour search and rescue operation as “complicated” due to the steep and rocky terrain that made it difficult to access precise locations.
Hardah Dam – also known as Haradhat Dam – is a unique volcanic crater located near the city of Damat in Yemen’s southern Dahleh province. A landmark of the region, the crater has steep rock walls with a hot sulphurous lake at its base.
Antar rose to fame on social media platforms where he posted videos of extremely dangerous mountain climbing in some of Yemen’s most rugged terrains. His videos often go viral. One of them shows him hanging from the back of a cliff with his bare arms outstretched, his legs dangling over a steep slope, and a dangerous display without protective equipment.
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The Civil Defense Authority urged climbers and adventurers to follow safety procedures and issued a warning to use “appropriate safety equipment to prevent such incidents”.