Rescue personnel recover body from closed area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that the individual recovered from the park was already deceased. He was officially pronounced dead at the hospital.

The National Park Service is investigating a fatality after a Hawai‘i Island resident whose body was recovered from a closed area of the Kīlauea caldera within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Park personnel responded to the incident Feb. 26 on the east side of the caldera. The volcano was not erupting at the time.

According to a news release from the National Park Service, search and rescue conducted operations overnight in “steep and hazardous terrain.”

On Feb. 27, responders located the individual, identified as a 33-year-old man, and airlifted him from the area. He was transported to Hilo Benioff Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased.

“Kīlauea caldera contains hazardous terrain, including unstable cliff edges and volcanic features,” park officials stated in a release on Tuesday. “Visitors are reminded to remain in designated open areas and comply with all closures.”

The park has notified the family and is withholding the name pending privacy considerations.

The incident remains under investigation.