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Park visitor killed as car drops over Tower cliff By ROBERT STRUCKMAN Of The Gazette Staff One person died in Yellowstone Park when a vehicle left the roadway and plummeted down a 100-foot cliff in the Tower area on Friday night. Five passengers in the vehicle received minor injuries and were brought to safety by specially trained water- and cliff-rescue teams. "None were wearing seat belts. That makes it even more amazing that five survived," said Yellowstone Park spokeswoman Marsha Karle. Karle withheld the ages, genders, names and hometowns of the victims until their families could be notified. Karle also withheld details such as the make and model of the automobile involved in the wreck. None of the injuries to the survivors appeared life-threatening, Karle said. Four were treated for minor injuries at Lake Hospital and were released. The fifth was treated for a head injury at a hospital in Cody and was released. The vehicle was traveling on the highway to Tower Falls at about 9:30 p.m. when the driver failed to negotiate a curve. The driver overcorrected, and the vehicle plunged 100 feet, landing in the boulder-filled river just above the falls, Karle said. "Part of the concern with the rescue was that either the survivors or the rescuers would be swept over the falls," Karle said. The rangers, who responded from around the park, floated down the river and rigged ropes across the canyon. The vehicle itself is still in the riverbed where it fell, Karle said. "It will be very difficult to extricate," she said. "The river is still pretty high." No other motorists have died in traffic accidents in the park this year, Karle said. The accident remains under investigation.
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