Teenage girl dies in cliff fall at western New York gorge

OTTO, N.Y. (AP) — A 16-year-old girl died after falling from a ledge in western New York’s Zoar Valley Saturday afternoon, according to the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office.

The girl’s name and the circumstances of the accident, which happened around 6 p.m., were not immediately released.

The Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area south of Buffalo comprises about 3,000 acres of state-owned land with shale cliffs up to 400 feet tall rising above Cattaraugus Creek. There have been several fatal falls there, most recently in July 2018 when a 20-year-old man fell while climbing a waterfall to get a photo.

In 2017, a couple fell to their deaths while hiking in Zoar Valley and their sons, age 4 and 7, were injured.