National

80-year-old dies falling off boat on rapids trip in Grand Canyon

Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on August 28, 2024

(GRAND CANYON VILLAGE, Ariz.) — An 80-year-old man died in Grand Canyon National Park over the weekend after his boat flipped in the Colorado River, marking the 13th person to die in the park this year.

The man was on a commercial rapids trip Sunday and fell into the water at Fossil Rapid, according to the National Park Service.

He fell in at around 3:40 p.m., according to officials, with an emergency being reported to the National Park Service via satellite phone.

The group said CPR was already in progress as park rangers responded to the emergency.

However, efforts by the group and park rangers, who were flown in by helicopter, were not able to resuscitate him.

The National Park Service and Coconino County medical examiner are investigating the incident. The victim was not identified by officials.

Several people have died in Grand Canyon National Park just in August alone. A 33-year-old woman, Chenoa Nickerson, was washed away in flash flooding was found on Sunday, the same day as the 80-year-old man died in the boating accident.

Three people died in the park on the last day of July and into the first week of August, including a 20-year-old man who fell off a scenic overlook on July 31, a BASE jumper who fell to his death on Aug. 1 and a 20-year-old female hiker who was found dead 150 feet below the rim after she entered on Aug. 3.

A park official told The Associated Press this week that about 10 to 15 people die in Grand Canyon National Park every year, with just 11 dying last year.