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Man who fell to his death from Michigan cliff may have been trying to take photos

Latest fatality marks at least the third death from accidental falls in Michigan state parks this summer

Maroosha Muzaffar
Wednesday 08 September 2021 02:11 EDT
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File: A man who was trying to take photos at Marquette’s Presque Isle Park fell from the cliff and was pronounced dead at the hospital
File: A man who was trying to take photos at Marquette’s Presque Isle Park fell from the cliff and was pronounced dead at the hospital (Getty Images)

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A man who was allegedly trying to take photos at a Michigan park on Labour Day, fell to his death from a cliff, officials said.

The police didn’t reveal the identity of the victim immediately.

He was taken to a hospital on Monday after falling from a cliff at Presque Isle Park in Marquette, a 323-acre peninsula with a rock formation known locally as Blackrocks features cliffs that visitors can dive from up to 15 feet into the Lake Superior.

The Marquette police told the media that the preliminary information suggests that the “victim fell while descending the cliff to take photographs.”

The investigation is ongoing.

The Detroit News reported that officers with the Marquette police department were dispatched at about 1:04pm after witnesses saw the person fall and contacted Marquette Central Dispatch.

The local fire department, county sheriff’s department, Upper Peninsula Health System EMS and US Coast Guard also responded, reports said.

The police said that the “first responders attempted to revive the victim, who was found in Lake Superior near the shoreline.”

However, he was unresponsive. “Life-saving efforts were made, but were unsuccessful,” police said.

He later died at a hospital in Marquette, police said.

Local reports said that the latest fatality marked at least the third death from accidental falls in Michigan state parks this summer, including a 75-year-old hiker who died after falling from a cliff at the Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness on 17 August.

An investigation then determined that Douglas Brent Welker had slipped while hiking down a trail at the edge of a 20-foot cliff near the waterfall. Police had said that the Pelkie resident hit his head during the fall.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Marquette police department, meanwhile, tried to remind “visitors to Presque Isle Park to stay back from the cliffs, and to use caution around unprotected hazards in the park.”

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