2nd Visitor in 2 Weeks Falls to Death at Grand Canyon

67-year-old man fell from South Rim viewing spot
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 5, 2019 1:30 AM CDT
3rd Tourist in 8 Days Dies at Grand Canyon
A view from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Ariz.   (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

A man who fell to his death from a viewing point at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon Wednesday morning was the third visitor to die in the space of eight days. The Grand Canyon National Park Service says park rangers found the body of the 67-year-old man around 400 feet below the rim, the Arizona Republic reports. Last week, a man in his 50s from Macau fell to his death while taking photos at a viewing site on the Hualapai reservation. A day before that death, the body of a foreign national was found in a forested area near the South Rim Village area, CNN reports. Authorities say the death was not the result of a fall, but the cause is still being investigated.

The latest visitor to die was a man from California who was visiting the park alone, spokesman Murray Shoemaker says. A witness who saw him fall alerted rescuers. Officials say the death has been initially ruled accidental, but the National Park Service and the Coconino County Medical Examiner are investigating, reports Reuters. Authorities say about a dozen deaths happen in an average year at the Grand Canyon, two or three of them from falling. Other causes of death "range from heat, to drowning, to medical issues and more," says park spokeswoman Vanessa Ceja-Cervantes, per KTLA. "High elevation plays a role in some of the fatalities." (More Grand Canyon stories.)

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