FRESNO, Calif. — Three people presumed dead after being swept over a raging waterfall in Yosemite National Park ignored warning signs and crossed a barricade to pose for photographs, a witness said Wednesday.
In addition, other hikers on the trail above the 317-foot Vernal Falls warned the group that conditions in the Merced River were treacherous. One couple ignored their warnings and fell in. Another man was swept away trying to help them.
“People come up here and they think it’s Disneyland,” said Jake Bibee, who says he is haunted by the look of terror in one man’s eyes as he was swept over the falls clinging to his female companion.
The Yosemite Search and Rescue unit identified the people presumed dead as Hormiz David, 22, of Modesto; Ninos Yacoub, 27, of Turlock; and Ramina Badal, 21, of Manteca.
Tuesday’s tragedy also was watched by young children in the group that accompanied the three people on their trek. The group of about 10 family members and friends had taken the day trip to see Vernal Falls, a treacherous drop on the swift Merced River made even more dangerous this year because of the record snowmelt.
Witnesses immediately called 911 on cellphones, alerting park rangers. The search-and-rescue unit closed the Mist Trail, which accesses the falls, on Tuesday afternoon while searching for the bodies. The trail, used by 1,500 people a day, was reopened Wednesday as rescuers searched the banks of the river for the bodies.
A metal barricade separates hikers from the river at the top of the falls. Signs in several languages warn people of the danger.
The tragedy brings to six the number of people killed in water accidents in Yosemite this year. Two hikers drowned in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir on June 29, and a hiker slipped and fell into the Merced River on the Mist Trail on May 13.
