Yosemite National Park rangers are searching the area around Vernal Falls after reports that one or more hikers may have been swept over the falls, park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said.
"We received phone calls from visitors at the top of the waterfall reporting that one or multiple people went into the water," Cobb said in an interview with msnbc.com.
Officials at the central California park sent 30 rescue workers and rangers to search for the missing hiker or hikers, and closed a half-mile portion of the Mist Trail, Cobb said.
According to NBC Fresno affiliate KSEE, witnesses said a man and woman climbed over the guardrail for a better view of the 320-foot waterfall.
They reportedly encouraged their children to climb over too. Before the children climbed over the rail the parents began to slip, KSEE reported. A male family member who jumped over the guardrail to help also fell over the edge of the falls, KSEE said.
"I saw the man's eyes when he went over the falls. That was devastating," witness Jacob Bibee told local Fresno station CBS47 TV.
'Screaming, running' He said he also saw a man and a woman in the water clinging to a rock or an island. Another witness, Dean Sabo, said the third person was floating in the water.
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