San Francisco, Jun 3 (IANS): A hiker fell to his death about 500 feet from a summit ridge in California's Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, while another person was injured while trying to grab the man, the media reported.

In a statement on Wednesday, the National Park Service said the accident occurred on Monday when the 56-year-old man was hiking along the summit ridge of Mount Russell with two other people, and lost his balance, Xinhua news agency.

One of his hiking partners, a 45-year-old woman from Milpitas, California, fell at the same time, but was able to self-arrest approximately 30 feet down.

The third member of the party used a satellite device emergency locator beacon to declare an emergency, and then called 911 from his phone.

When the accident took place, the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks' helicopter and other rescuers were engaged in rescuing another injured hiker in another recreation place, so the search and rescue team from neighbouring Yosemite National Park responded to the emergency.

About 480 km north of Los Angeles, the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is the consolidated management structure for Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park in California.

After Covid-19 lockdown orders were removed, similar accidents have occurred in national parks.

Last week, the body of a 20-year-old hiker was found in Joshua Tree National Park, 300 km east of Los Angeles, after a week-long search and rescue operation.

In February and March, two hikers fell to their death from almost the same location while hiking at Zion National Park in southern Utah.