A Montreal man is in hospital with serious injuries after falling down a rocky slope on Mount Royal.
Ian Ritchie, operations chief of the Montreal Fire Department, told CTV Toronto a passerby noticed the fallen man on the east side of the mountain at about 11:40 p.m. on Tuesday.
Due to the dangerous nature of the area where the man had fallen, it took 32 rescue personnel about an hour to bring him to safety.
"You could see the place where he fell, it's a very precarious part of the mountain,” Ritchie said. “The hill is very steep. Part of the problems that we had during the rescue was unfortunately that it was nighttime -- it was very dark.”
The 21-year-old man was transported to hospital with serious head and back injuries.
Police spent part of Wednesday at the scene to determine what exactly happened, but don’t anticipate opening a criminal investigation into the matter.
This isn’t the first time someone has been seriously injured by falling down Mount Royal. Last summer, a 38-year-old surgeon died after falling down a steep slope in an area close to Tuesday’s incident.
The area has several signs to warn pedestrians away from the cliff. The City of Montreal is now working to decide if more signage is needed.
“We don’t want to increase unduly the number of fences and structures in what is a beautiful, natural setting,” said Alex Norris, Montreal city councillor.
“If there are things that can be done to make that particular location safer, then certainly we will do them.”
With a report from CTV Montreal’s Cindy Sherwin
