A human foot floating in a natural pool in Yellowstone National Park has been found by rangers, the park officials said on Friday.
The foot was found in a shoe in the Abyss Pool, one of the park’s deepest hot springs, which has a temperature of around 60 degrees Celsius.
Park officials said the foot was that of a person who died in the park on July 31, based on the evidence so far. The text rules out the possibility of murder.
Accidents are not uncommon in the national park’s thermal pools, the oldest in the United States. In 2016, a young man died after slipping and falling into a hot spring in Norris Geyser Basin. Last year, two people needed treatment after suffering burns in the park’s water.
“The ground in hydrothermal areas is fragile and thin, and water is boiling just below the surface,” the statement added, warning visitors to “stay on designated trails.”
Yellowstone, which welcomed more than 4.8 million visitors last year, covers almost 9,000 square kilometers in the states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.
The park includes hot springs, mudflats, steam vents and about half of the world’s active geysers, including the famous Old Faithful.