A rescue mission went horribly wrong on Mount Rainier Thursday when a national park ranger plunged more than 3,000 feet to his death while trying to assist four injured climbers.
The Washington Post reports that ranger Nick Hall, 34, was preparing four climbers — two men and two women, from Waco, Texas — who slipped down the Emmons Glacier into a crevasse for helicopter evacuation off the mountain at 4:49pm, when he fell down the mountain’s northeast side from the 13,700-foot level.
Hall was not moving after his fall and attempts to contact him were unsuccessful. He was confirmed dead when other rangers reached him at the 10,000-foot level several hours later.
As for the climbers that Hall rescued, the National Park Service reported that three were able to be airlifted by 9pm but the fourth had to spend the night on the mountain “in a safe location, with Mount Rainier National Park climbing rangers.”
The Service added: “We are hopeful that she may be able to walk out, with assistance, under her own power tomorrow morning.”
According to Reuters , Hall’s tragic death is the second this year involving a Mount Rainier park ranger.
Margaret Anderson, 34, was shot and killed on New Year’s Day at a roadblock when she stopped a man suspected in a New Year’s Eve shooting in Seattle.
ABC News has more on the tragic death of park ranger Nick Hall during his Mount Rainier rescue attempt below:
