Responders on Wednesday work to retrieve the physique of Abel Joseph Mejia who fell some 400 ft to his demise from the rim of the Grand Canyon. Picture courtesy of Nationwide Park Service/Launch

Aug. 2 (UPI) — A university scholar visiting the Grand Canyon is lifeless after struggling what park rangers described as an “unintentional fall.”

Abel Joseph Mejia, 20, of Hickory, N.C., had been standing close to the sting of the Grand Canyon rim a couple of quarter mile west of the scenic Pipe Creek Overlook when he fell Wednesday morning.

Park rangers obtained a report of the incident at about 10:40 a.m. that day, and situated his physique about 400 ft beneath the canyon’s rim.

“An investigation into the incident is being performed by the Nationwide Park Service and the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Workplace,” Nationwide Park Providers mentioned in a press release Thursday.

The Indiana Bible Faculty of Indianapolis recognized Mejia as a scholar recognized for his “heat smile and mild spirit.”

“We really feel deep disappointment as a result of tragic lack of certainly one of our college students, Abel Mejia. Abel misplaced his life yesterday in an accident whereas visiting the Grand Canyon,” the college mentioned in a press release on Fb. “His absence shall be deeply felt by all who knew him.”

In keeping with park statistics, there have been 103 deaths in Grand Canyon Nationwide Park between 2014 and 2019. Fourteen of them had been attributable to falls.

“Grand Canyon Nationwide Park workers encourage all guests to have a protected go to by staying on designated trails and walkways, at all times retaining a protected distance of at the very least six ft from the sting of the rim and staying behind railings and fences at overlooks,” the park mentioned.