SWEPT AWAY

Yosemite Visitor, 22, Killed in Horror Waterfall Plunge

The man fell almost 600ft to his death.

A 22-year-old man has died after he was swept nearly 600ft down a waterfall in a California national park. Joshua Baires Alfaro was swimming in Yosemite’s Merced River when he plunged over the edge of Nevada Fall on Saturday. Freesia Gaul, who previously worked as a volunteer lifeguard and was visiting the park that day, said Alfaro did not seem to be a “strong swimmer” and that she leaped in to try to save him. “People see calm water, but they don’t realize that under there’s a huge undercurrent,” she said. “When you see someone like that, when you make direct eye contact with someone who you know is going to go over, you can’t turn around.” Gaul added that she almost swept down the waterfall herself before a bystander held out a walking stick, which she was able to hold onto before scrambling to safety. The National Park Service has since opened an investigation into the incident.