A climber died on Mount Rainier in Washington state, and two other climbers were flown to a local hospital after a rockfall.
The three were part of a climbing group of six caught in a rockfall at 10,400 feet Wednesday evening. The remaining three climbers were uninjured.
At 8 p.m. Wednesday, the park received a 911 call from a climber on the Liberty Ridge route reporting that a rockfall had swept through the site where three parties of two were camping on their way to the summit, public information officer Kevin Bacher said in a statement.
"This morning, park rangers responded in the park’s helicopter, first conducting aerial reconnaissance and then retrieving the most seriously injured climber, transferring him via Airlift Northwest to Harborview Hospital in Seattle," Bacher said Thursday.
An official with Harborview said the man is 37 years old and is listed in serious condition.
"The second injured climber and the deceased individual were flown out at 2:30 p.m. and transferred, respectively, to Arbor Health, Morton Hospital in Morton, Washington, and to the Pierce County medical examiner. The remaining three climbers were flown off the mountain at 4:45 p.m," Bacher said.
Twenty-four rangers from Mount Rainier National Park were involved in the rescue and recovery, along with a chaplain from Tacoma Pierce County Chaplaincy.
The climbers' identities were not released Thursday.
Five years ago to the day, six climbers died on the mountain in the same area. They fell from the mountain's steep liberty ridge in 2014, and it was the deadliest accident on Mount Rainier since 1981.
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