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Fatal fall determined accidential

Incident witnessed by kayakers

MUNISING — The National Park Service has now determined the death of a California woman who fell from a cliff along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Wednesday was accidental, according to the National Park Service.

Tu Thanh Nguyen, 32, of Sunnyvale, California, was hiking by herself on the North Country trail when she stopped about a half-mile east of Grand Portal Point to take photos of herself when she fell around 200 feet from the cliff’s edge into Lake Superior, according to a park service official.

The fall was witnessed around 1:30 p.m. by two kayakers who retrieved her and brought her to shore, near Chapel Beach.

A local kayak company then radioed emergency services for assistance, according to the park service.

Joe Hughes, chief ranger for the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, said the woman was pronounced dead at the scene by Alger County paramedics. Her family has since been notified.

The park service, Alger County Sheriff’s Office, Alger County EMS, and the U.S. Coast Guard personnel responded to the incident in a “coordinated recovery effort,” according to a release from the park service.

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