A young man has fallen to his death while taking a selfie photograph at the Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare.

The tragedy happened at around 3.15pm today while the victim is believed to be an Indian national who had been studying at university in Dublin.

The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard and the Shannon based search and rescue helicopter were mobilised to the incident as soon as the alarm was raised.

Rescue 115 arrived at the scene and immediately carried out a search of the area. Once the casualty was located, the helicopter winchman was lowered to the water and was able to recover the casualty.

The body was flown to Doolin where the helicopter crew was met by Coast Guard members and Gardaí.

The victim was formally pronounced dead at the station before the body was removed to University Hospital Limerick for formal identification and post-mortem examination.

Gardaí interviewed a number of eye-witnesses following the incident and have confirmed that, at this stage, they are treating the incident as a tragic accident.

A garda spokesman in Clare said: “Initial indications are, having taken statements from a number of people, is that the victim was taking a selfie and lost his footing.”

The incident remains under investigation while Gardaí are tonight trying to make contact with the victim’s family in India.