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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Wednesday, October 16, 2002

Body of woman found in Kilauea lava field

Associated Press

VOLCANO, Hawai'i — A woman's body was found on a Kilauea Volcano lava field early yesterday morning in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, where hundreds of people have been flocking to view the flow.

A hiker reported finding the woman's body around 7 a.m. Park rangers and rescue crews from the Hawai'i County Fire Department found the woman's body about a half-mile north of the ranger station at the end of Chain of Craters Road.

The cause of death was not immediately known, said park spokeswoman Mardie Lane.

The unidentified woman was airlifted from the lava field and taken to Hilo Medical Center for autopsy, Lane said.

She said the area was open to the public, about a 15-minute hike from the ranger's station over the cooling lava flow.

"Traveling there is certainly permissible, but there's no marked trail," Lane said. "I don't really know what she might have been doing out there."

Lane said no unusual conditions were reported in the area.

"What it may have been like when she was down there, I don't know," Lane said. "It can be warm down there, depending on wind and other conditions, like opening an oven."

Tens of thousands of visitors have flocked to Kilauea since the most recent breakout of lava on Mother's Day, May 12. The lava flow reached the sea on July 19. Kilauea, the world's most active volcano, has been in continuous eruption since Jan. 3, 1983.