Searchers recover 2nd body after rockfall near Canada’s Banff National Park hiking trail
Calgary, Alberta – Research teams located a second organization on Friday following a massive rock fall on a hiking trail in Canada Banff National Park.
The University of Alberta confirmed that one of the two people killed in Banff National Park was the retired educator Jutta Hinrichs, who was a leader at the Rehabilitation Medicine Faculty.
Park Canada officials say she was 70 years old and lived in Calgary.
The slide occurred Thursday afternoon north of Lake Louise on the Ice Champs Promenade, about 124 miles northwest of Calgary. It is also about 85 miles from the Summit site of the seven group in Kananaskis, Alberta, this week.
Three others were taken to the hospital and were reported in a stable state.
The officials said that no one else had been missing and that there are no unidentified vehicles at the start of the path.
The route launches along the edges of Bow Lake and is considered a moderate challenge for hikers and is used by tourists and excursionus, including families. It is a region with a limited cellular service.
Niclas Brundell, a guide to the trails who lives in Canmore nearby, said that he hiked in the region with his wife on Thursday when they both started to see the signs of falling rocks and rocks the size of the tires starting to fall.
“It was unimaginable for me that such a large piece of mountain would fall,” he said. While the rocks began to ride at the top of the waterfall, he said, they hit no one, but he and his wife wondered why no one seemed to react.
“Then all of a sudden, I hear the start of another rock fall, and I turn around, and the whole side of the mountain stands out.”
He said that the slab seemed about 50 meters (164 feet) wide and 20 meters (60 feet) deep, and he and his wife started to sprint.
When he turned around, he could see a group of 15 to 30 people at the waterfall disappear under a cloud of dust.
“The only place where I have never seen something similar is like watching videos from 9 to 11, when you see New York being thrown over it,” he said.
He said there was a roar, “and I didn’t see them anymore.”
Brundell said that when they have moved away enough to feel safe, he sent a satellite message to Parks Canada, while his wife run in a neighboring lodge to call for help.
He said it was a popular path because it is considered relatively easy, and a given summer day, there are 15 people or more hikes on the path.
