2 women die days apart at Death Valley National Park

A woman died at Death Valley National Park on Tuesday, the second to die at the park within three days, officials said.

About 6 p.m. Tuesday, first responders were called after a report of an unresponsive visitor south of Badwater Basin, the park said. The woman died before first responders arrived.

National park rangers and officials from the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol were called to the scene, the park said. The woman’s case of death is being investigated by Inyo County.

Days earlier, another woman died after a car crash in the park. A visitor reported it about 3:10 p.m. Sunday to park rangers at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center near the east side of the park, according to a news release Friday.

National Park Service employees and California Highway Patrol officers went to the scene, where they found a woman injured in the single-vehicle accident.

Investigators believe the woman was driving west on state Route 190 near Twenty Mule Team Canyon when she veered off the road and crashed into a rock wall, park officials said.

The woman died at the scene. The crash remained under investigation by the California Highway Patrol, the park said.

Neither woman has been identified by the national park.

Park officials noted the two most common causes for emergency responses in Death Valley are single-vehicle accidents and heat illness. The woman who died Tuesday was near Badwater Basin, a vast salt flat at 282 feet below sea level — the lowest point in North America.

According to the park’s website, which designates Death Valley as “the hottest place on Earth,” the area was under an extreme heat warning Friday. The park is about 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

“The park has experienced three consecutive days of high temperatures over 120 which may have exasperated other conditions,” the park release said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-828-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.