Mexico woman, 22, dies climbing off-limits active volcano
- She had fallen into a gully near the crater of Popocatepetl with her climbing companion, who survived but was injured in the plunge
- Climbers have been banned from going within 12km of the peak since the volcano began erupting again in 1994
A woman mountain climber in Mexico died and a climbing companion was injured when they scaled the highly active, off-limits peak of the Popocatepetl volcano.
Mexico’s volunteer Mountain Rescue and Assistance Brigade confirmed on Monday that the climbers fell into a gully about 300 metres (1,000 feet) from the volcano’s crater, suggesting they had reached the crater or near it.
The crater of the 5,426-metre tall volcano has been belching toxic fumes, ash, and lumps of incandescent rock persistently for almost 30 years.
Civil defence authorities have strictly prohibited climbers from going within 12km (7.5 miles) of the peak since it began erupting again in 1994.
Valentín Martínez Castillo, the mayor of the nearby town of Ozumba, identified the dead woman as a 22-year-old resident of the town.
Martínez Castillo wrote in his social media accounts that the climbers fell about 50 metres down a gully, and that the woman’s body and the surviving climbers had been successfully removed from the peak.
The Mountain Rescue and Assistance Brigade posted a notice on social media on Friday reading: “She shouldn’t have died. Don’t put your life or those of others at risk. The Popocatepetl volcano is closed.”