Tourist falls 70ft into volcano while trying to get a better look

‘Visitors should never cross safety barriers, especially around dangerous and destabilised cliff edges’

A man survived a 70ft fall into Kilauea, the US most dangerous volcano, after he reportedly climbed over guardrails to get a better look.

The man, who is in his thirties but was not identified, was visiting the Halemaumau crater’s Steaming Bluff overlook, on Hawaii Island, when he decided to climb over permanent metal railings to get closer to the cliff.

He was seen losing his footing and falling off a 300ft cliff into the volcano’s caldera at 6.30pm on Wednesday 1 May, according to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Service. A caldera is a special kind of volcanic crater that forms when the centre of the volcano collapses. The volcano was not erupting.

Rescue personnel found the man seriously injured on a narrow ledge about 70ft down from the cliff edge at about 9pm and completed a high-angle extrication.

The man was airlifted to Hilo Medical Centre for urgent care with support from a US Department of Defence helicopter.

“Visitors should never cross safety barriers, especially around dangerous and destabilised cliff edges,” said the chief ranger, John Broward. “Crossing safety barriers and entering closed areas can result in serious injuries and death.”

Kilauea is the most active of Hawaii’s five volcanoes, and one of the most active in the US. The US Geological Survey classed it as one the country’s 18 “very high threat” volcanoes in 2018.

Kilauea has been erupting since the early 1980s. It erupted for three straight months last year, spewing ash about 30,000ft into the sky and destroying Hawaii’s largest natural freshwater lake, as well as over 700 homes.

The last fall fatality in the park occurred on 29 October 2017, when a woman was found dead near the Steaming Bluff overlook. Park authorities said it appeared that she had left the trail and gone around several barriers to get to the edge.