Man dies after falling 100 feet from Oregon cliff while posing for photo in tree

Branch brake caused 43-year-old to plummet into ocean

(Getty)

A 43-year-old man has died after falling 100 feet from a cliff on the Oregon coast while posing for a photograph in a tree, officials have said.

Steven Gastelum of Seaside, Oregon, was trying to take a photo while hiking along the Devil's Cauldron Overlook Trail in Oswald West State Park before he died, Oregon State Police said.

According to reports, Mr Gastelum climbed a tree on the trail when a branch broke, causing Mr Gastelum to fall about 100 feet into the Pacific Ocean.

NBC News reported that the tree appeared to be near a barrier warning visitors to stay away from the edge and that Oregon State Police public information officer Captain Tim Fox said Mr Gastelum was on the other side of the barrier when he fell.

The Coast Guard and Nehalem Bay Fire Department worked to find Mr Gastelum in the water and bring him to shore using jet skis and a helicopter, reports said. He was then taken to a Tillamook hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Earlier this year a woman died under similar circumstanced in Grand Canyon National Park after she fell to her death while trying to take a photo.

The 59-year-old, of Scottsdale, was discovered by responding rangers after she accidentally stepped off the edge from the parks rim west of Mather Point while “hiking off-trail and taking photographs with family”.