British pilgrim dies in tragic fall into river on Camino de Santiago

A BRITISH pilgrim has died after falling into a northern Spanish river.

The 64-year-old is believed to have lost his balance after trying to cross an improvised bridge made out of tree trunks and rough logs near to a hotel.

His body was discovered early this morning in the Robo River in Puente la Reina, a town and municipality between Pamplona and Estella on the famous Way of St James pilgrimage route to the Galician cathedral city of Santiago de Compostela.

A local made the grim find and dialled 999.

Police, firefighters and emergency medical responders were sent to the scene but there was nothing they could do to save him.

It is thought the unnamed man’s body could have lain undiscovered for several hours as he had not turned up at the place he had booked to sleep in that night.

Local reports said he was found by the river bank near to a hotel called Hotel Jakue, on the way out of Puente la Reina in the direction of Pamplona.

Police were still investigating today although well-placed sources said everything was pointing to the man dying as the result of a tragic accident.

The bridge he was trying to cross has been described as a 10ft high “improvised bridge” made out of tree trunks.

In September 2019 an Irish pilgrim drowned after taking a sunset dip in the sea at the end of his hike across northern Spain.

Architect Timothy Kelleher, 35, died after bathing in the treacherous waters of the Atlantic in the Galician town of Finisterre.

He had just completed the Way of Saint James, better known by pilgrims as the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile walk most start in St Jean de Luz in France and finish in the Galician cathedral city the pilgrimage is named after.

Many people who complete the five-week journey end up continuing after reaching Santiago to Cabo Finisterre, a rock-bound peninsula a five-day walk from the cathedral city which in Roman times was believed to be the end of the known world.

The tragedy involving the Irishman, from Ballyvourney in Co Cork, occurred at a beach called Mar de Fora which is known as being one of the most dangerous in the Finisterre area because of its strong currents.