Bride dies trying to reach bus from famous film
A new bride, who was hiking in a remote national park trying to find a bus made famous in the movie Into the Wild, has died after being swept away in a river.
Belarusian woman Veramika Maikamava, 24, was pulled underwater when she tried to cross the Teklanika River at Denali National Park in Alaska with her husband Piotr Markielau, also 24, state troopers said on Friday.
The newlyweds were attempting to journey to the site where hiker Christopher McCandless perished in 1992.
There is a rope stretched across the river to help hikers, but waters were waist-high and swift-running when the newly married couple tried to cross on Thursday night, Ken Marsh, an Alaska State Trooper spokesman, said.
"Ms Maikamava apparently lost her footing and her grip on the rope," he said in an email.
Hundreds of visitors have ventured over the years into the now-famous Stampede Trail along the edge of the park to try to reach the wrecked vehicle now known as the Magic Bus.
The abandoned Fairbanks city bus was used as shelter by 24-year-old McCandless before he died of what the state coroner determined to be starvation.
A diary he left describing his final days became material for the book written by Jon Krakauer and the 2007 movie, which stars Emile Hirsch.
Others die trying to reach Christopher McCandless’ Magic Bus
Several hikers have struggled with the rough Alaska conditions attempting the pilgrimage to the bus.
A woman from Switzerland died in 2010, also drowning while trying to cross the Teklanika River. Several others have been rescued.
According to the latest available data, there were 15 state search-and-rescue missions into the area from 2009 to 2017, Marsh said.
Ms Maikamava and Mr Markielau had been married less than a month, Mr Marsh said.
Her body has been recovered and sent to the state medical examiner’s office, the troopers said.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, download the Yahoo News app from iTunes or Google Play and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo’s daily newsletter. Sign up here.
