22-year-old visitor dies after being swept over 594-foot waterfall at Yosemite

A 22-year-old visitor died after being swept over a 594-foot waterfall at Yosemite National Park on Saturday, officials confirmed this week. The man entered the Merced River near Nevada Fall. A fellow parkgoer who saw him in the water jumped in to help but could not reach him before the current carried him over the falls.

The same parkgoer, a former lifeguard, was herself pulled toward the edge until another visitor extended a walking stick that she used to stay above the water.

Investigation and park warnings The National Park Service has opened an investigation into the death. Officials have repeatedly warned visitors to exercise extreme caution near flowing water and wet rock in the area.

Prior incidents In 2013 a 19-year-old visitor died after being swept toward the same waterfall while swimming in the Merced River. In 2018 an Israeli teenager died after falling approximately 800 feet from a cliff near Nevada Fall while taking a photograph. Yosemite National Park, located roughly three and a half hours east of San Francisco, draws about four million visitors each year.