"In a very short order, there... copyright National Park Service Image caption...revealed that high acidity and temperature dissolved Mr Scott's remains The area of the ...
“They were specifically moving in that area for a place that they could potentially get... Basin. Sable told park officials she recorded the journey on her cell phone...was dead ...
Image copyrightAFP/Getty ImagesImage caption
The hot pools in Norris Basin are fuelled by volcanic activity under the park
The remains of a
man who died in a hot spring accident in Yellowstone National Park were
dissolved before they could be recovered, it has emerged.
Colin Scott, 23, died in June in an illegal attempt to soak, or "hot pot", in the US park's thermal pools.
The accident was recorded by the victim's sister on her mobile phone, the incident report says.
The grisly details came to light following a freedom-of-information request by local television news.
Established
in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is located mostly in the state of
Wyoming but extends into parts of Montana and Idaho too.
'Very unforgiving'
According
to the incident report, Mr Scott and his sister, Sable Scott, left the
defined boardwalk area in Norris Basin on 7 June.
"The whole area is geothermally active," Yellowstone's deputy chief ranger Lorant Veress told KULR 8, which broke the story.
"There's a closure in place to protect people from doing that for their own safety. It's a very unforgiving environment." Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Yellowstone is famous for its unspoiled natural state but Mr Voress said that also made it dangerous
He said the pair had been specifically looking for
an area to soak in the thermal springs, despite the potential danger and
warning signs.
Ms Scott was recording a video of her brother on the phone as he reached down to test the water, before he slipped and fell in.
Authorities did not share the video, or a description of its contents, out of sensitivity to the family, the report says.
Rescue
teams later found his body in the pool but abandoned attempts to
retrieve it due to the decreasing light available, the danger to
themselves and an approaching lightning storm.
The following day, workers were unable to find any significant remains in the boiling water.
"In a very short order, there was a significant amount of dissolving," Mr Veress said. Image copyrightNational Park ServiceImage caption
The incident report revealed that high acidity and temperature dissolved Mr Scott's remains
The area of the park where the accident took place
is on the edge of the famous Yellowstone caldera, a "supervolcano" or
"hotspot".
The caldera's activity fuels the thermal pools in the area and it also has the potential for a "cataclysmic" eruption which would change global climate for decades.
However,
experts at the US Geological Survey, which carefully monitors the area,
say "the chances of this sort of eruption at Yellowstone are
exceedingly small in the next few thousands of years." More from BBC Image copyrightGetty ImagesThe rise in selfie deaths and how to stop them Yellowstone in 1871 and today
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