Authorities reported that the teen was walking along an old trail beneath the High Steel Bridge, one of the tallest railroad bridges in the U.S., when he fell on Saturday.
A teenager who fell 400 feet from a hazardous canyon in Washington state over the Memorial Day weekend survived with only minor injuries, the Mason County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.
Authorities stated that the teen had been walking along an old trail beneath the High Steel Bridge, one of the tallest railroad bridges in the U.S., when he fell on Saturday.
“We’ve advised people to avoid these trails because they’re dangerous, but either the warnings are being ignored or not seen,” said Tim Ripp, a Mason County sheriff’s patrol corporal who participated in the rescue.
The teen, whose identity has not been released, sustained only scrapes on his arms and was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation. NBC affiliate KING in Seattle reported that he is 19 years old.
According to Ripp, five to seven people fall off the bridge every year, with most resulting in fatalities, despite numerous warning signs describing the area’s steep, slippery, and unsafe conditions.
During the two-hour rescue operation, deputies and firefighters used a rope and harness to scale the bridge and retrieve the teenager, the sheriff’s office reported.
“Hooked him up into a harness and brought him all the way back up,” West Mason Fire Chief Matthew Welander told KING. “He was walking down a washout that many people use, which has unofficially become a trail.” The teen ended up at the river’s edge, he added.
Officials noted that a lack of respect for nature and inattention contribute to the ongoing incidents of people falling from the bridge.
Referring to the teen, Welander said, “He was incredibly lucky,” according to the station.