A foolish tourist plunged 30 feet off a cliff while trying to get 'a closer look' at one of the world's most active volcanoes.
Disaster struck on June 11, when the 30-year-old Boston man veered from the Byron Ledge Trail at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park with no headlamp or flashlight.
He was trying to get a better view of the famous volcano Kīlauea as it erupted - but ended up falling off a steep cliff, according to a statement from the park service.
Fortunately, a tree branch broke the Bostonian's fall and stopped him from plummeting 100 feet to the volcano's caldera.
If the branch had not been there, he would have slammed into the gaping hollow surrounding the volcano, 'which could have resulted in his death,' the park service wrote.
