77-year-old tourist falls to his death at Arches National Park in Utah
A 77-year-old man from Germany died after falling on a hike at Arches National Park in Utah, authorities said Wednesday.
Rudolf Peters, from the town of Haltern am See in western Germany, was hiking in a rough section of a trail called The Windows Loop when he fell Tuesday, the National Park Service said in a statement.
Bystanders attempted to resuscitate Peters before rangers arrived, along with responders from the sheriff's office and county emergency medical services, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The park service is investigating along with the sheriff's office. Its statement did not offer more details about the fall.
The park service reminded visitors to Arches, which is known for its graceful stone formations, to consider uneven surfaces, changing weather and their own health conditions when deciding to hike.
Fatalities at Arches National Park
At least seven other visitors have died at the national park since 2023.
Last August, a 68-year-old-man from New Jersey died while hiking on Devils Garden Trail in in the park. Two months before that, a 58-year-old woman from Utah died while hiking on the park's Delicate Arch Trail.
At least five people died at the park in 2023, the Salt Lake City Tribune reported, citing a log kept by NPShistory.com.
One of the fatalities in 2023 included a Texas man who was found dead off a trail at the park. Family members and officials later said he apparently died of heat stroke while on a trip to spread his father's ashes, family members said Tuesday.
In 2020, a woman was decapitated when a metal gate at the park sliced through the passenger door of a car driven by her husband. The year before that, a man and woman died after falling into the bowl area near the park's Delicate Arch.
