One killed after giant rock slab falls off US mountain

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK: A hunk of rock “the size of an apartment building” fell off the granite face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, killing one person and injuring another on a mountain at the height of climbing season, officials and witnesses said.

At least 30 climbers were on the wall at the time, but it was not clear if the victims were climbers or tourists, ranger Scott Gediman said.

“It was witnessed by a lot of people,” he said.

The injured person was taken to a hospital near the park. No names were immediately released.

El Capitan is one of the world’s largest granite monoliths towering 1,219m above Yosemite Valley.

Several people made emergency calls, reporting the rockfall from the Waterfall route on the East buttress of El Capitan.

Officials didn’t provide details on the size of the rockfall, but climbers posted pictures on social media from hundreds of metres up the wall showing billowing white dust moments after the crash.

“I saw a piece of rock, white granite the size of an apartment building, at least 30m by 30m, suddenly just come peeling off the wall with no warning,” said Canadian climber Peter Zabrok, 57, who was scaling El Capitan and was above the rockfall on Wednesday.

Zabrok said he has climbed El Capitan dozens of times and has “never seen anything like this”.

Mountaineers from around the world travel to the park in the Sierra Nevada to scale El Capitan’s sheer face.

Fall is one of the peak seasons because the days are long and the weather is warm.

Rockfalls are common in Yosemite but seldom fatal.

Yosemite remained open after the rockfall, and other activities throughout the park weren’t affected, rangers said. — AP