A 24-year-old man died after falling about 40 feet from a rock formation in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge over Labor Day weekend, officials said.
The victim was identified as Cameron Smoot of Mason, Ohio, according to a news release from the Fayette County Coroner’s Office shared with PEOPLE.
Powell County Search and Rescue said it was called to the scene around 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, along with Powell County Emergency Medical Services.
“Initial reports stated an individual had fallen an estimated 40 feet from the top of Whittleton Arch down to the rocks below,” the agency wrote in a statement on social media.
Rescue teams reported that Smoot was alert at first but in critical condition. Personnel from Lee County Search & Rescue, Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department, and Kentucky State Parks also assisted with the response.
Smoot was transported to the Middlefork Fire Department and then flown to the University of Kentucky hospital, where he later died from his injuries, according to Powell County Search and Rescue.
The agency added, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.”
The coroner’s office confirmed that Smoot died shortly after 9 p.m. on Saturday. His cause of death was listed as multiple blunt force injuries from a fall, and officials are treating it as an accident.
Red River Gorge is located in Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest and “ranks among the top climbing and rappelling destinations in the world,” according to Kentucky’s tourism website.
