El Capitan Rockfall Kills One and Injures Another in Yosemite

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/us/el-capitan-yosemite-death.html

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A chunk of rock broke off El Capitan, the towering granite wall in Yosemite National Park, on Wednesday afternoon, killing one person and injuring another, park officials said.

The rockfall occurred shortly before 2 p.m. on the right side of the wall, along the Waterfall Route, a popular ascent for rock climbers on the 3,000-foot-tall monolith. Park rangers and search-and-rescue crews, who combed the area on foot and in a helicopter, found one person who had died and another who had been injured, Scott Gediman, a spokesman for Yosemite, said in a statement.

Emergency workers were trying to transport the injured person out of the park, which is about 150 miles east of San Francisco. A park spokeswoman said she did not know whether the people were climbing El Capitan when they were injured.

Yosemite is one of the most visited national parks in the country, a top destination for climbers and tourists for its cliffs, sequoias and waterfalls. Twenty to 25 people died in the park in 2016 from falls, drownings and other accidents, Mr. Gediman said.