A Fife teenager is in a critical condition after falling around 25 feet down a local quarry.
The 16-year-old was camping with friends in the area around the disused Goat Quarry, which lies in the Cullaloe Hills between Aberdour, Crossgates and Burntisland, when the incident happened shortly before 10pm on Friday.
The teenager is believed to live in the area. He was said to have sustained a serious head injury and also sustained an injury to his spleen.
Police said the youth had fallen while attempting to climb the 70ft cliff face of the quarry.
A full-scale rescue operation swung into action after the alarm was raised by the teenager’s friends.
Fife Constabulary, the Scottish Ambulance Service and Fife Fire and Rescue Service all raced to the scene.
Ambulance personnel and the service’s special operations team were being assisted by firefighters from Lochgelly, who had two water tenders and a 4×4 rescue unit at the scene.
Ambulance staff quickly assessed the youngster.
A spokeswoman for theservice said the teenage boy had sustained a “fairly serious head injury” and had been unconscious.
A police spokesman added, “A 16-year-old local youth who had been camping with friends in the area had fallen from the quarry side whilst attempting to climb the cliff face.
“The alarm was raised by his friends and police, ambulance and Fife Fire and Rescue Service all attended the scene.
“Ambulance staff quickly assessed the male was suffering serious injuries as a result of a fall of some 25 feet.”
He added that, because of the difficulty in getting the badly hurt teenager out of the quarry floor, help was requested from an air ambulance.
A coastguard search and rescue Helicopter from HMS Gannet at Prestwick was scrambled and arrived at the quarry at around 11.35pm.
He was taken by air to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where his condition on Sunday was described as critical but stable.
Police Inspector Neil Henderson said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident.