{"id":25240,"date":"2026-08-27T19:21:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T19:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=25240"},"modified":"2026-08-27T19:21:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T19:21:57","slug":"death-valley-tourist-dies-after-walking-toward-badwater-road-in-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=25240","title":{"rendered":"Death Valley tourist dies after walking toward Badwater Road in heat"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A French tourist died this month after becoming stranded in California’s Death Valley National Park amid sweltering temperatures.<\/p>\n

The National Park Service (NPS) announced the death of Pierre Michel Formosa, 68, on Aug. 21.<\/p>\n

Park officials said Formosa and his travel companion, also a French national, were driving on West Side Road along the Badwater Basin on Aug. 17 when their vehicle “became stuck in mud.”<\/p>\n

NURSE IMPALED BY POLE DURING HIKE FORCED TO TREK 10 MILES FOR HELP: ‘A FREAK THING’<\/strong><\/p>\n

“With no other vehicles in the area, the men began walking across the salt flats toward Badwater Road to seek assistance,” park officials said.<\/p>\n

Temperatures were as high as 116\u00b0F \u2014 and eventually Formosa was “unable to continue.”<\/p>\n

\n
\"The<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

A 68-year-old tourist died recently during a visit to California’s Death Valley National Park in August.<\/span> (Tayfun Coskun\/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Formosa’s companion continued on and eventually was helped by a passing motorist \u2014 who alerted officials at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center at around 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

NPS rangers soon began searching for Formosa, along with an Inyo County sheriff\u2019s deputy.<\/p>\n

YELLOWSTONE OFFICIALS DECIDE FATE OF BISON THAT LAUNCHED GRANDFATHER 8 FEET IN AIR<\/strong><\/p>\n

A California Highway Patrol helicopter later joined the search and found Formosa later that afternoon, about 1.5 miles from Badwater Road.<\/p>\n

“He was pronounced dead at the scene,” NPS officials said.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Tourist<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

With no other vehicles nearby, the two travelers set out across Death Valley’s salt flats, seen above, toward Badwater Road for help.<\/span> (Tayfun Coskun\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“The Inyo County coroner will determine the cause and manner of death.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a statement, Death Valley National Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds said he was “grateful to everyone who took part in the search, and our thoughts are with his loved ones.”<\/p>\n

\n
\"Two<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Death Valley National Park recorded temperatures as high as 116 degrees when two individuals (not pictured) encountered trouble during their trip.<\/span> (Brian van der Brug\/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“This is a heartbreaking reminder of how quickly conditions here can turn dangerous,” said Reynolds.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE NEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Death Valley is an extraordinary place, but its heat, distances and remoteness can be dangerous, regardless of experience.”<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to Death Valley National Park and the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office for additional information.<\/p>\n

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/strong><\/p>\n

The incident comes after several other deaths at national parks this summer.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Spring<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Death Valley’s extreme heat, long distances and remote landscape can pose dangers to visitors regardless of their experience, said an official.\u00a0<\/span> (George Rose\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Earlier this summer, an 18-year-old hiker died after experiencing heat-related symptoms while hiking the Grand Canyon’s popular Bright Angel Trail, according to the NPS.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/p>\n

In August, accomplished rock climber Jake Whisenant, 30, died after a fall at California’s Sequoia National Park, suffering blunt-force trauma injuries.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A French tourist died this month after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}