Great Falls Tribune

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A 14-year-old Utah girl was killed and four of her family members were injured when their vehicle was struck by falling rocks this week in Glacier National Park.

The family was traveling west near the East Tunnel on Going-to-the-Sun Road when the vehicle was hit by rockfall Monday at around 7 p.m., according to a Glacier Park release.

The rocks reportedly hit the top of the vehicle and shattered the rear windshield.

Air ambulance services responded to the incident but were unable to transport the victim due to her unstable condition and she was transported by ground ambulance to the hospital in Kalispell.

The two adults in the vehicle suffered significant bruising and were taken to the hospital by emergency services, while the two other children were also transported with minor injuries.

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The name of the victim is being withheld pending notification of other family members, and the family has asked for privacy at this time, the release states.

Officials estimate the rocks were between fist-sized and 12 inches in diameter and the amount of debris could have “filled the bed of a pickup truck.” The rocks fell from an unknown height from the mountains, per the release.

The incident was the first fatal injury from rockfall on Going-to-the-Sun Road since 1996, when a vehicle was struck in the Rimrocks area west of Logan Pass.

The road was closed at the East Tunnel for three hours on Monday night as road crews cleared the debris and vehicle.

“The park extends its deepest condolences to the girl’s family, and thanks its partner emergency care providers for the significant response,” the release states.