A mountain climber in Mexico died and a climbing partner was injured when they fell nearly 150 feet while climbing the off-limits peak of the Popocatepetl volcano, according to CBS News.
On June 24, Mexico’s volunteer Mountain Rescue and Assistance Brigade confirmed the climbers fell into a gully approximately 1,000 feet from the volcano’s crater, which suggests they had reached the crater or were very close to it, reports the news outlet.
Access to the volcano has been closed to the public since 1994.
The nearly 18,000-foot-tall volcano has had registered phases of “intense activity,” according to Mexico’s National Center for Disaster Prevention. Mexican officials have determined that the first 7.5 miles from the crater is the most dangerous. The volcano has expelled various substances ranging between ashes, lava, and rock fragments the size of cars.
The mayor of the nearby town of Ozumba, Valentin Martinez Castillo,shared that the woman who died on the volcano was identified by her father as 22-year-old Diana Gabriela, a resident of the town.
The woman’s body was successfully transported from the gully called “Las Cruces.”
“I am very sorry for the loss of the young woman,” Martinez Castillo wrote. He also expressed that he has been in communication with the woman’s father and is ready to help the family in need.