YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) -- Yosemite National Park officials say rock fall at El Capitan has killed one person and injured a second.
Officials say a chunk of rock broke off El Capitan along one of the world's most famously scaled routes at the height of climbing season.
Ranger Scott Gediman said Wednesday that witnesses made multiple calls reporting the rock fall around 2 p.m. PDT. He estimates 30 or more climbers were on the wall at the time.
Gediman says the injured person was being taken to a hospital near the park. No identities were released.
El Capitan is one of the world's largest granite monoliths towering vertically 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) from the Yosemite Valley floor. Mountaineers worldwide travel to the park to scale the sheer face.
Gediman says the park's helicopter is helping assess the damage.
The rock fall happened along the Waterfall route on El Capitan's eastern buttress.
Yosemite climber sent us this photo. He says a piece of granite the size of an apartment building came crashing down the Waterfall Route. pic.twitter.com/agFA0YjVPc
— Christina Fan (@ChristinaABC30) September 27, 2017
#BREAKING: Rescue crews on the East Buttress of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park after series of rockslides this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/LzaxH09VEf
— Christina Fan (@ChristinaABC30) September 27, 2017
