The first pictures of a British climber crushed to death under a rock fall at Yosemite National Park in California have emerged.
Andrew Foster was killed at El Capitan, the park’s best-known landmark, when 1,300 tones of granite toppled from it onto a hiking trail on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old’s wife Lucy was airlifted to hospital where she remains in a critical condition.
The couple, who were at the end of a three-week trip, were both keen rock climbers who kept a blog and an online picture account chronicling their adventures. They were married a year ago and the holiday was part of their anniversary celebrations.
“We are a young married couple who enjoy nothing more than getting out and having adventures in the mountains together. We are not extreme athletes and describe ourselves simply as passionate weekend warriors,” they wrote.
Mike Kane was at the park when Foster was killed. He tweeted: “It was very loud, miracle more not hurt.”
A further slide took place on Thursday afternoon, injuring one person, who was also airlifted to hospital.
Park crews have re-routed roads around the base of El Capitan.
Spokesman Scott Gediman said two other people were initially believed missing but were later accounted for by search and rescue teams.
Geologists were at the scene on Thursday assessing the size and weight of the latest slide, he said.
Gediman added the slides were not an unusual occurrence in Yosemite, which sees about 80 rock falls a year, but most do not cause injuries or deaths.
Sixteen people have been killed and 100 others injured in rock falls since park records began in 1857. The last fatality was in June 1999, when climber Peter Terbush was killed below Glacier Point.