Skywalk May Have Changes After Grand Canyon Suicide

Jump is the first in its 12-year history
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 30, 2019 6:03 PM CDT
Updated Sep 30, 2019 6:30 PM CDT
Grand Canyon Suicide May Bring Skywalk Changes
Visitors walk on the Skywalk during the first walk event at the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai Indian Reservation at Grand Canyon West in 2007.   (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Officials at the Grand Canyon Skywalk are considering whether more security is needed after a man jumped to his death. Grand Canyon West said in a statement Monday that it would explore new policies. Authorities recovered the body of a 28-year-old visitor, whom they did not identify, Sunday morning, the AP reports. They say he was at the tourist spot on the Hualapai reservation outside Grand Canyon National Park around 4:30 p.m. Saturday when he jumped. Open since 2007, the horseshoe-shaped glass walkway juts about 70 feet over the canyon overlooking the Colorado River. The vertical drop from the Skywalk is between 500 feet and 800 feet.

There are safety barriers installed at Skywalk, but spokesman said policies and security will be examined, per USA Today. He pointed out, however, that "nearly 10 million guests have visited Grand Canyon West since 2007, and this is the first such incident involving Skywalk in all that time." In March, a Chinese tourist stumbled while trying to take a photo close to Skywalk and fell to his death.

(More Grand Canyon stories.)

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