Woman falls into boiling geyser while taking ‘selfie’

The El Tatio geyser where the incident tool place

A 69-year-old Belgium tourist is fighting for her life after falling into a geyser whilst apparently trying to take a selfie. She was reported to have suffered 85 per cent burns to her body in the freak accident at one of the scorching water plumes at the world-famous El Tatio in the Antofagasta region of Chile. Apparently, she was said to have slipped when she walked up to one of the geysers which can hit heights of up to 18ft, thus falling into the hot spring. Her frantic husband was able to pull her out but he too suffered burns to his arms during the rescue.
A police spokesman said all the indications suggested it was a tragic accident but El Tatio has been closed for five days to allow a full investigation. From their preliminary inquiries, they believe the woman was standing with her back to one of the geysers as she took a photograph.
An official warning on the tourist attraction 's site says: "Not all of the ground in El Tatio in stable.
"Be especially careful near the salty crusts of the “ojos del agua” (bodies of water).
"They’re very brittle and if they give way you could get a bad burn, as the waters reaches temperatures of 85ºC."
The geyser field is located within the Andes Mountains of northern Chile at 4,320 metres above the sea and its name comes from the Quechua word for oven. It is among the highest-elevation geyser fields in the world. El Tatio has over 80 active geysers, making it the largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere and the third largest in the world.

Source: Mirror