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Massachusetts woman dies after falling from cliff during Kauai hike

A 64-year-old woman visiting from Massachusetts died Wednesday morning after she slipped and fell off a cliff on a hike north of Keoneloa Bay — known also as Shipwreck Beach — in Poipu, according to the Kauai Police Department.

The woman, identified as Karen Smith, fell from a fishing spot known as “High Cliff” at around 10 a.m., eventually ending up in the ocean with serious injuries to her head. A bystander witnessed the incident and sought help at Shipwreck Beach.

A firefighter on vacation from Canada hiked down the cliff’s edge with a pair of fins and swam out to Smith, who appeared unresponsive, while another bystander retrieved a rescue tube and threw it in the water.

Kauai Police Department personnel arrived, made their way down the cliff face and into the ocean to bring Smith back on land. There, medics and firefighters began administering CPR on her and while she was being transported to Wilcox Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

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