A 70-year-old woman fell to her death at Grand Canyon National Park on Tuesday, April 23.
According to NBC news, this is the second person to die after falling over the canyon’s rim inside the park this year, the park ranger said.
Park rangers responded just after 1 p.m. to a report that someone needed help at a rocky point west of Pipe Creek Vista, but “before a rescue effort could be undertaken, the person fell,” the park said in a statement.
The woman’s name was not released pending notification of next of kin. Her body was recovered approximately 200 feet below the rim.
It’s the third falling death in the Grand Canyon area in recent weeks, although one of those deaths occurred at Grand Canyon West, which is on the Hualapai reservation outside the national park.
On April 3, a 67-year-old man fell over the rim east of Yavapai Geology Museum within park boundaries, which was the first over-the-edge death in the park this year. His body was found around 400 feet below the rim, according to NBC.
Tuesday’s accident was the fifth death inside the park this year, according to reports. Last year, 17 people died inside Grand Canyon National Park.
The park said in a statement Tuesday that visitors should stay on designated trails and walkways, always keep a safe distance from the edge of the rim and stay behind railings and fences at overlooks.
Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most-visited of the national parks. In 2018 there were more than six million recreational visits to the park.
