Woman who fell to her death in Glacier National Park identified as University of Kansas student

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Officials identified a woman who tragically died after she fell into a gorge in Glacier National Park as a Kansas student.

The National Park Service (NPS) released an announcement online saying that University of Kansas student Atheer Abdulrahman S. Alquahtani from Saudi Arabia died Monday afternoon after she fell into Avalanche Creek. The NPS stated in their announcement that she drowned.

NPS spokeswoman Gina Kerzman said that on May 22, Alquahtani fell off a rocky overhang into Avalanche Creek and was swept away into the gorge. Bystanders later spotted Alquahtani in a creek passing beneath the bridge of Trail of the Cedars. The bystanders waded into the water to pull her out and began applying CPR while others left to find park rangers.

Kerzman said emergency workers and park rangers were mobilized after learning of what happened. These responders declared Alquahtani dead at the side of the creek before they carried her out of the park.

Kerzman said friends traveling with Alquahtani who spoke with the NPS said she had just finished her first year of her masters degree at the University of Kansas. Alquahtani had been on a road trip tour of national parks to celebrate with her friends who described her as a risk-taker that loved being near water.

Kerzman said no foul play is suspected in Alquahtani’s death. The site where the incident occurred is off-trail and many other visitors take the same risk. Kerzman wrote that water-related incidents like this are the leading cause of death at Glacier National Park.