Hong Kong tourist taking photos falls 300 metres to his death in Grand Canyon near famous Skywalk attraction
- The man in his 50s fell from Eagle Point on the Hualapai Tribe’s reservation
- He was part of a tour group visiting the Skywalk, a glass bridge that hangs over the gorge
A Hong Kong man died on Thursday morning after he stumbled and fell about 305 metres (1,000 feet) into the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona.
The man, who was part of a tour group, was at a popular tourist spot on the Hualapai reservation outside the boundaries of the national park, according to park spokesman David Leibowitz.
A helicopter lifted the man’s body out of the canyon on Thursday afternoon. His identity has not been released.
The fall happened at the famous Skywalk attraction.
Leibowitz said the man in his 50s fell at nearby Eagle Point while trying to take photographs.
The Skywalk, a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that juts out from the canyon wall, over a sheer drop of 1,200 metres (4,000 feet).
The rim has some ledges and outcroppings below but no barrier between tourists and the drop into the canyon.
Signs at Eagle Point warn tourists not to get too close to the edge.
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Leibowitz said the area had closed for the day. He extended the tribe’s prayers to the man’s family.
The Hualapai reservation includes a roughly 161km (100-mile) stretch of the Grand Canyon at its western edge.
Meanwhile, authorities at Grand Canyon National Park to the east were trying to identify the body of another person, believed to be a foreign national. The body was found on Tuesday evening in a wooded area south of Grand Canyon Village away from the rim, the park said.
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The person’s relatives had not been notified and the cause of death is unclear, park spokeswoman Vanessa Ceja-Cervantes said. The National Park Service and the local medical examiner’s office were investigating.
The Grand Canyon is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the US, drawing nearly 6.4 million visitors last year.
