1 killed in Greece gorge rockfall amid bad weather

ATHENS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A tourist was killed by a rockfall in Greece's Samaria Gorge on the island of Crete amid bad weather, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Apart from the fatal victim, a 32-year-old Ukrainian woman residing in Germany, no other visitors were injured, according to a press release from the management.

Severe rainfall caused the rockslide, it said, adding that some 300 hikers were briefly trapped, but by sunset, they had been evacuated to safety by disaster response units.

The gorge will remain closed until further notice.

Located inside Samaria National Park, 16-km-long Samaria Gorge is one of the longest in Europe as well as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Over 100,000 people on average traverse the gorge each year.