A daredevil social media free-climber nicknamed the 'Spider-Man of Yemen' has died after falling into a volcanic crater in the country's south-west.

Al-Qaqa Ibn Antar, 30, was attempting to climb the steep rock faces of the Hardah Dam volcanic crater on Friday without safety equipment when he fell in, according to local authorities.

He had a large following on social media and was well known for performing daring acrobatic stunts in online videos. The Hardah Dam crater is one of the country's most famous natural landmarks.

Video footage appearing to show the moment of the fall has been widely circulating online. It shows Antar climbing the near-vertical wall before losing his grip and falling.

Yemen's Civil Defence Authority praised the 'heroic efforts' of its water rescue team for successfully recovering Antar's body 'from the bottom of the crater' in a statement issued on Sunday. The operation was described as 'highly dangerous' and 'one of the most difficult and complex field rescue missions'.

Rescuers were seen scaling down the side of the crater using climbing equipment before winching a cage down to recover the body. His body was found by divers inside the 120m-wide crater at a depth of 30m below the water surface, according to the Associated Press.

Source: www.bbc.com