Tourist Dies After 250 Feet Fall From A Cliff On Mount Olomana In Oahu, Hawaii

A tourist in Hawaii died falling off a cliff in Hawaii on Wednesday.

While hiking a ridgeline trail near a mountain summit on the east side of Oahu, the visitor fell 250 feet near the third peak of Mount Olomana. The trail is known to be a dangerous and narrow path, prone to hiking accidents.

According to the Honolulu Fire Department, the 30-year-old hiker was accompanied by three other hikers, one of whom was a Hawaii resident. The name and nationality of the victim have yet to be released.

Days earlier from the latter accident, another tourist fell off the same trail and experienced a severe head injury. Just last year, local rescue crews were sent off to that trail five times, and about 13 calls were made, according to a fire department spokesperson.

Since 2011, about five people have died due to accidents on that trail; one of them was Nathan Stowell, 24. Stowell fell from 400 feet while hiking the trail on Easter Sunday as he was trying to retrieve a fallen hat.

“I’ve seen in that there seems to be a spike in either injuries or in this case fatalities. More and more it’s in areas that are not managed, not sanctioned, out-of-bounds kind of areas,” State Parks Administrator Curt Cottrell told a local TV station in 2018.

The trail is currently under the Department of Land and Natural Resources jurisdiction, but the agency does not list it on any state websites. The trail has no official signage, and hikers usually traverse the cliffs using unofficial ropes.

“We don’t actively manage the trail, nor do we recommend that people traverse it,” said Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesperson Dan Dennison.