It will be some time before the coroner issues a final report. When the cause has been determined and the Park Service issues its final report, this page will be updated. This report makes the following scenario seem all the more reasonable. Clothing was not burned sufficiently to indicate that either victim fell into molten lava. There is no evidence of any other hot material in the area except for hot water and steam, which are found only on or immediately adjacent to the bench, not on the sea cliff above the bench.
Hydrochloric acid is present in hot steam on the bench, potentially in high concentration.
Over the years there has been considerable and ongoing publicity about the dangers of an entry bench. Two people have previously died on a bench, one during a collapse and another after falling while attempting to climb onto the bench. Neither body was recovered. Despite these fatalities, numerous written and forceful oral warnings by the Park Service, signs and posters in the field, information on this web site, and weekly pleas in our Volcano Watch column, a few visitors persist in risking their lives. We don't know for certain if the latest two victims were on the bench when they received their fatal injuries.