Back to Hawaii News index

Posted: Monday, May 10th, 2004 5:37 AM HST

Five years after tragedy, Sacred Falls still closed

By Associated Press

(Hauula-AP) -- It's been five years since eight people died in a Mother's Day landslide at Oahu's Sacred Falls State Park. And there's still no telling if the park will ever reopen. The state is considering three options for the future of the park, but none involve opening the falls. The Hauula site has been closed since the deadly May ninth, 1999, accident. Hikers were sunning themselves at the deep pool beneath the waterfall when the landslide began in 1999. Some of the ricocheting boulders were the size of compact cars. Until its closure, 70-thousand visitors took the two-point-two mile hike to the 87-foot waterfall. (Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)