A 14-year-old Utah girl died on Monday at Glacier National Park after falling rocks struck her vehicle in the Montana park, officials said.
Four others were also injured in the rockfall that occurred around 7 p.m. Monday near the east tunnel on Going-to-the-Sun Road, the park said in a statement to NBC affiliate KECI of Missoula.
The rocks hit the top of the vehicle, shattered the rear windshield and caused fatal injuries to the 14-year-old, Glacier National Park said in the statement. Her parents and two other children in the car were also hurt.
The name of the girl, her family and their hometown was not immediately released, and the park said her family is asking for privacy.
The park estimated enough debris came from the rockfall to fill the bed of a pickup. The rocks that hit the vehicle were said to be between the size of a fist to around a foot in diameter. They fell from an undetermined height from mountains above the road, the park said.
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“The park extends its deepest condolences to the girl’s family and thanks its partner emergency care providers for the significant response,” Glacier National Park said in the statement.
An air ambulance attempted to transport the 14-year-old “but was unable to airlift the girl because of her unstable condition,” the park said. Flight paramedics traveled with her in a ground ambulance, but she died on the way, the statement said.
The girl’s parents suffered what were described as bruises and were taken to a hospital for treatment, and the two other children suffered minor injuries.
The park said the teen’s death is the first death from a rockfall on Going-to-the-Sun Road since 1996, when another vehicle was hit by falling rock west of Logan Pass.
Glacier National Park logged nearly 3 million recreational visitors in 2018, with a high of 3.3 million in 2017, according to the park’s website.
Glacier National Park was established as a park in 1910 and covers more than 1,500 square miles.