Girl Killed When Rockslide Hits Family's Car At Glacier National Park

A deadly rockslide at Glacier National Park is prompting a warning about potential dangers for tourists. A family of five was driving along a popular Montana road when their car was hit by falling rocks, killing a teenage girl inside. Pat Cummings said sh

Wednesday, August 14th 2019, 10:27 am

By: News 9


A deadly rockslide at Glacier National Park is prompting a warning about potential dangers for tourists. A family of five was driving along a popular Montana road when their car was hit by falling rocks, killing a teenage girl inside.

Pat Cummings said she was driving down the road in Glacier National Park when traffic stopped amid sounds of horror.

"I could clearly hear a woman crying frantically, screaming, you know, 'Please help her. Someone please just help her,'" Cummings said.  

Park officials confirm a car driven by a family of five from Utah was caught in a rock fall that generated enough debris to fill the bed of a pickup truck. Some of the stones were a foot in diameter.

"Whether it's rain, whether it's wind, you know, all of these things can cause rocks to fall," said Lauren Alley, a spokesperson for the park. "But rockfall in this magnitude is very un

 

usual."

A 14-year-old girl in the car was killed. Her parents and two siblings were injured.

"If there had been more cars probably closer together, I do think it could have been worse," Cummings said.  

The rockslide happened on the 50-mile long "Going-to-the-Sun Road," driven by about 2 million people every year. The road's last rockfall death was more than two decades ago -- and the danger is not always preventable.

"It's a little bit tough to inspect the mountain above the road," Alley said. "Rocks are continually shedding as part of that geologic process."

© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox!

","published":"2019-08-14T15:27:59.000Z","updated":"2019-08-14T15:27:59.000Z","summary":"A deadly rockslide at Glacier National Park is prompting a warning about potential dangers for tourists. A family of five was driving along a popular Montana road when their car was hit by falling rocks, killing a teenage girl inside. Pat Cummings said sh","affiliate":{"_id":"5cc353fe1c9d440000d3b70f","callSign":"kwtv","origin":"https://www.news9.com"},"contentClass":"news","createdAt":"2020-01-31T18:33:39.842Z","updatedAt":"2025-03-29T12:01:09.561Z","__v":8,"breakingNews":[],"entities":[{"_id":"6244bd7f6880e45323a66715","text":"Pat Cummings","type":"PERSON","__v":0},{"_id":"6244bd7f6880e45323a6671d","text":"Lauren Alley","type":"PERSON","__v":0},{"_id":"6244bd7f6880e45323a66712","text":"Glacier National Park","type":"LOCATION","__v":0},{"_id":"62421b246880e45323a3a162","text":"Montana","type":"LOCATION","__v":0},{"_id":"624219f16880e45323a15f1e","text":"Utah","type":"LOCATION","__v":0},{"_id":"6239a2e46880e4532342261c","text":"CBS Interactive Inc.","type":"ORGANIZATION","__v":0}],"hasBeenCheckedForEntities":true,"openInNewWindow":false,"rendered":6,"show":true,"link":"/story/5e347303527dcf49dad7017a/girl-killed-when-rockslide-hits-familys-car-at-glacier-national-park","hasSchedule":false,"id":"5e347303527dcf49dad7017a"};

More Like This

August 14th, 2019

January 2nd, 2025

September 29th, 2024

September 17th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 31st, 2025

March 31st, 2025

March 31st, 2025

March 31st, 2025