An Arizona woman fell to her death Friday inside the Grand Canyon National Park. According to the National Park Service, the woman was taking photos with her family at Mather Point when she fell.
The body of Maria A. Salgado López, 59, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was recovered by rangers about 100 feet below the canyon rim near the south rim visitor center.
“Ms. Salgado López had been walking off the trail and taking pictures with the family when she accidentally stepped off the edge,” the park statement said. “An investigation into the incident is underway by the National Park Service and the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office. No additional information is available at this time.”
The Grand Canyon had 17 deaths in 2018, and at least three people died in the park in 2019.
Last year, two people died in the Grand Canyon in separate incidents that included a man stumbling over the edge of the rim while trying to take photos in the Grand Canyon West, a popular tourist destination in the Hualapai reserve outside the limits of the national park. About a month later, a third visitor, fell 400 feet over the southern edge.
The Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the US, attracting almost 6.4 million visitors in 2018. The Grand Canyon West in the Hualapai Reserve receives approximately 1 million visitors a year.
The park urges visitors to stay on their designated trails and trails, keep a safe distance from the edge of the edge, and stay behind bars and fences at viewpoints.
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