When safety rails are located at the edge of a volcano, they are there for a reason On Wednesday night, a man fell 70 feet into the caldera of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, the island’s most active volcano, which famously erupted for three months in 2018 and released the equivalent of 320,000 swimming pools of magma, says Science. The most surprising part of the incident isn’t, however, the man’s lapse in judgement but that he’s still alive.
Photo: Chris W Anderson/Shutterstock
Man Falls 70 Feet Into Hawaiian Active Volcano After Jumping a Safety Barrier
According to the official statement of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, at around 6:30 PM on Wednesday night, a man climbed a metal guardrail at the Steaming Bluff overlook to get a closer look at the spectacle beyond and fell from a 300-foot cliff. He was found at 9:00 PM, injured but alive, on a ledge 70 feet down from the cliff edge and was airlifted to the hospital.
The man’s identity hasn’t been released, and the Park Service is still investigating the incident to determine whether he will face charges for hopping the railing.
Following the incident, Chief Ranger John Broward warned that “Visitors should never cross safety barriers, especially around dangerous and destabilized cliff edges. Crossing safety barriers and entering closed areas can result in serious injuries and death.
The last person to die in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was in October 2017. According to the New York Times, it was due to a fall. 
H/T: Complex