A 60-year-old woman suffered severe burns after she fell through the ground near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park on Monday (September 16) afternoon.
The National Park Service said that the woman, her husband, and their leashed dog were hiking along the Mallard Lake Trailhead near the iconic geyser.
The couple wandered off the trail, ignoring signs warning about the dangers of the off-limits areas around the park’s thermal features due to the thin ground.
As the woman was walking, the thin layer of earth’s crust gave way, and she fell into the scalding hot water below the surface. She suffered second and third-degree burns on her lower legs and was airlifted to the hospital for treatment. Her husband and their dog were unharmed.
The Park Service issued a reminder to visitors to stay on the trails and avoid getting too close to the thermal features.
“Visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in these areas is fragile and thin, and there is scalding water just below the surface,” the agency said in a news release.
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