Yosemite’s El Capitan scarred after 2 days of rock falls

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A second rock fall occurs at El Capitan Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, in Yosemite National Park, Calif. Yosemite National Park says another rock fall has injured one person in the park, one day after a huge chunk of granite killed a British tourist, Andrew Foster, 32, of Wales, while he and his wife were hiking at the bottom of El Capitan. An immense mass of granite plunged from the side of El Capitan on Thursday and filled the valley below with a cloud of dust. (Eric Paul Zamora/The Fresno Bee via AP)

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. – Two thundering rock falls in as many days at Yosemite National Park’s landmark El Capitan left experienced climbers stunned as huge plumes of dust enveloped the valley below.

Photographs taken by climbers and local residents captured the moments after the falls, which left a British hiker dead and two other people injured. Later images from the National Park Service show the scar left behind on the face of El Capitan.

The falls came during the peak of the climbing season on the massive rock formation. At least 30 climbers were on the formation when the formation first gave way Wednesday.

Park officials say rocks at the world-renowned park’s climbing routes break loose and crash down about 80 times a year, but injuries are rare.

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Abbey Westbury

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