A massive chunk of rock fell from the face of the El Capitan granite monolith in Yosemite National Park on Wednesday afternoon, killing one person and injuring at least one other.
Officials said a chunk of rock fell just before 2 p.m. near the park's popular Waterfall route, on the east buttress of El Capitan. Authorities did not immediately say how big the chunk of rock was, although witnesses described it as "the size of an apartment building" to The Associated Press.
"I saw a piece of rock, white granite the size of an apartment building, at least 100 feet by 100 feet, suddenly just come peeling off the wall with no warning," Canadian climber Peter Zabrok, 57, told the AP. He said he was scaling El Capitan above the site of the rock fall when the incident happened.
Officials did not identify the person who was killed or the person who was injured. It was not immediately clear whether they were tourists or climbers. Park ranger Scott Gediman told the AP that at least 30 climbers were on the wall when the rock fell.
The injured person was taken to a hospital outside the park for treatment.
The rock fall comes as visitors flock to the park for climbing season, according to the National Parks Service.
The park remained open despite the incident.
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