Yellowstone 18
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. A 21-year-old employee of the park has fallen to death on Friday morning REUTERS

An employee of the Yellowstone National Park in US has died after falling from the edge of a canyon on Friday morning (26 August), according to the park authorities.

A Reuters report said that Estefania Liset Mosquera Alcivar, 21, was socializing with a small group of co-workers near a trail along the canyon rim around 3.15am local time before she fell down. Her body was recovered almost after four hours of the accident, officials confirmed and added that the investigation is underway.

Alcivar worked as a concession employee. She was from Quito, the capital city of Ecuador.

Earlier in June, in a similar kind of incident a 18-year-old female worker fell 400 feet to her death on the first day of her job at the national park when a rocky ledge overlooking a valley gave way beneath her.

The Ecuadorian woman's death case comes along with the wildfires in Yellowstone, where at least three dozen large wildfires are burning across the West. In Wyoming, a huge wildfire has forced the closure of the main connecting entrance between Yellowstone National Park's southern end and Grand Teton National Park's northern border.

All these incidents are affecting the business of the park at the height of the summer tourist season. They have also concerned the preparations for celebrations set for Thursday marking the 100th anniversary of the formation of the National Park Service.

Yellowstone was the first national park established in the United States. It covers the northwestern corner of Wyoming and spills over into Idaho and Montana, the Reuters report added.