Tourists risk their lives in Death Valley
In the USA, a extreme heatwave is occurring. In California, forests are burning, and the highest temperature ever recorded was reached in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, hundreds of tourists are attracted to Death Valley.
In the USA, tourists and tourists from Europe, as well as adventurers from all over the USA, have defied the persistent heat warnings in California's Death Valley in recent days. Hundreds of Europeans traveling through the western part of the country, as well as American visitors, felt drawn to this region, known in Germany as the Valley of Death and one of the hottest places on Earth.
Despite this, French, British, and Swiss tourists left their air-conditioned RVs this week to photograph the barren landscape. American visitors did the same, disregarding warnings from Death Valley National Park officials.
"I was excited that it was so hot," said Drew Belt from the US state of Mississippi, who planned to make a stop at the California Mount Whitney summit on his way and was passing through Death Valley. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's like running on Mars."
A motorcycle rider died in Death Valley, California, on Saturday, where the temperature reached over 52 degrees that day. According to the National Park, a person belonging to the motorcycle group had to be taken to the hospital.
More than 160 million people in the USA, or about half the population, were affected by heat warnings on Tuesday. The "dangerous heat" was expected to persist in the western USA for the rest of the week, warned the US Weather Service NWS. The heat is "extremely dangerous" for all without the ability to cool off.
In the past few days, parts of the USA have suffered from unusually high temperatures. In the casino metropolis of Las Vegas, a record temperature of 48.9 degrees was measured on Sunday. In the state of Oregon, at least four suspected heat-related deaths have been reported since Friday, according to local media.
In California, high temperatures have caused problems for firefighters. In the Santa Barbara area, nearly 11,000 hectares of land were scorched. The fire threatens the Neverland Ranch, which once belonged to Michael Jackson.
Amidst this international heatwave, several tourists from Europe and within the USA have ventured into Death Valley, despite the extreme weather conditions. Despite the harsh warnings from the National Park officials, many visitors, like Drew Belt from Mississippi, see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as hotspots like Death Valley face "extreme danger" during such weather events.
