Prince's Trust walker dies drowns

A YOUNG man on a walking expedition with the Prince's Trust drowned yesterday while trying to take a short cut by swimming across a lake in Snowdonia.

The man, aged 22, disappeared while trying to cross the remote Llyn Idwal near Glyder Fawr, a mountain in North Wales. Companions raised the alarm and a full-scale search involving mountain rescue teams and police divers was launched. The body of the man, who has not yet been identified, was recovered yesterday afternoon, five hours after the search was started.

The death is certain to raise questions about whether the group had sufficient supervision or leadership. This is the second fatality in Wales this year involving a volunteer from the trust. Last night a spokesman for the Prince of Wales said: "He is aware of the tragedy and saddened by it and is awaiting further briefing."

A spokeswoman for the trust refused to comment on reports that the man, who was from Liverpool, had been wearing his walking boots when he tried to swim the lake. It is understood that he was in a party of 20, including six instructors, on a Prince's Trust Development Course.

He and a friend tried to take a short-cut by swimming the lake but when he failed to reach the other side the alarm was raised at 11am yesterday. When his body was eventually recovered it was taken to Bangor Hospital by an RAF aircraft.

In February an 18-year-old girl taking part in a sailing trip on Milford Haven waterway in West Wales drowned when a dinghy capsized. The incident could result in legal action against the trust.

In 1997, two volunteers with the organisation were crushed by five tons of concrete when a section of a sea wall on the Orkney island of North Ronaldsay collapsed. The trust was fined pounds 10,000 for the accident.