Toddler nearly plunges off cliff at Hawaii volcano, officials say. ‘Shocking scene’
A “shocking scene” that played out in a closed-off area at a Hawaii volcano on Christmas Day prompted officials to issue a safety warning to visitors.
As people gathered to watch the volcano Kilauea’s glowing lava at sunset on Dec. 25, a young boy “wandered off from his family and in a split second, ran straight toward the 400-foot cliff edge,” according to a Hawaii Volcanoes National Park post on Facebook the next day.
“(The toddler’s) mother, screaming, managed to grab him in the nick of time just a foot or so away from a fatal fall. Disaster was averted, and the shaken family departed,” officials said.
Park officials are urging visitors to the volcano on the island of Hawaii to steer clear of closed areas and keep tabs on their kids.
“Those who ignore the warnings, walk past closure signs, lose track of loved ones, and sneak into closed areas to get a closer look do so at great risk,” officials said.
Along with “steep unstable cliff edges and hazardous terrain” that are harder to see at night, “other dangers escalate during increased visitation associated with eruptions,” according to officials.
Drivers should show down, keep an eye out for people on foot and for nene, or Hawaiian geese, and use low-beam headlights when around others, officials said.
Kilauea began erupting on Dec. 23, its eighth eruption – and the sixth in the summit caldera known as Kaluapele, since 2020, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
It had “two distinct eruptive episodes” from Dec. 23-25 and started up again Dec. 26, the observatory said.
This story was originally published December 27, 2024 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Toddler nearly plunges off cliff at Hawaii volcano, officials say. ‘Shocking scene’."
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