Celebrated 'Spiderman' rock climber plunges to his death while scaling walls of volcanic crater with no ropes

By TARYN KAUR PEDLER, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 12:03, 15 June 2026 | Updated: 12:20, 15 June 2026 A celebrated rock climber plunged to his death after scaling the walls of a 390ft deep volcanic crater with no safety equipment. Al-Khafa Ibn Adhar, known locally as the Spiderman of Yemen, was attempting to climb the walls of the Hardah Dam crater when he lost his grip and fell, according to Yemen's Civil Defence Authority. A dramatic ten-second clip of the moment saw the 30-year-old daredevil scaling the wall, which is covered in Arabic writing, while demonstrating impressive movements and positions. But in a tragic turn of events, as the Yemeni adventurer carried out a risky one-handed move, he slipped off the rock and fell into the abyss below. Rescue teams, including diving and water specialists, found Adhar's body 98ft below the water surface inside the crater, following a four-hour search. Authorities say the rescue mission was 'complex' due to the steep and rocky location, which made access difficult.  Adhar had gained popularity on social media after sharing videos of himself performing high-risk ascents in some of Yemen's most rugged terrains. One of his most famous videos shows him hanging from the edge of a rocky cliff with his bare hands, with his legs dangling toward a steep slope without safety equipment. Al-Khafa Ibn Adhar, known locally as the Spiderman of Yemen, was attempting to climb the walls of the Hardah Dam crater when he lost his grip and fell Dramatic footage caught him slipping  into the abyss below, where his body was found four hours later  The Hardah Dam, also known as the Haradhat Damt, is a distinctive volcanic crater near the city of Damt in Yemen’s southern Dahle province Adhar had gained popularity on social media after sharing videos of himself performing high-risk ascents in some of Yemen's most rugged terrains Yemen's Civil Defence Authority has urged people who climb and engage in adventure sports to observe safety procedures and use 'appropriate protective gear to avert similar incidents.'  The Hardah Dam, also known as the Haradhat Damt, is a distinctive volcanic crater near the city of Damt in Yemen’s southern Dahle province.  A regional landmark, it features steep rocky walls and a hot, sulphurous lake at its base.  The tragedy comes just two weeks after a British woman was killed in front of her partner after falling around 1,650ft on the slopes of a famous Pyrenees mountain called the Balaitus Peak. She was crossing an area called the Great Diagonal, one of the most popular and accessible climbing routes to its 10,277ft peak, when she fell on May 30. Mountain search and rescue experts from a specialist Civil Guard unit called Greim were mobilised, and a helicopter was sent to the area, which ended up taking the British woman's body to a nearby heliport after it was recovered. It was then taken to Zaragoza's Forensic Medicine Institute for the post-mortem. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.