![\"USGS](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/b2f3\/live\/75f43550-c57c-11ef-a340-f7f8bbba1045.jpg.webp\")
USGS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA Hawaii national park has issued a new warning to tourists after a toddler was grabbed “in the nick of time” from falling off the rim of an erupting volcano.<\/p>\n The little boy wandered off from his family and “in a split second, ran straight toward the 400ft cliff edge” of the Kilauea volcano, the park said.<\/p>\n “His mother, screaming, managed to grab him”, the park added in its statement, when the toddler was “just a foot or so away from a fatal fall”.<\/p>\n Park ranger Jessica Ferracane, who observed the incident, told the BBC she hopes sharing details of the incident will help “prevent future tragedies”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Kilauea, on Hawaii’s Big Island, is one of the world’s most active volcanoes.<\/p>\n It routinely erupts, and the latest eruption began on 23 December with lava pictured gushing to the surface.<\/a> <\/p>\n The eruption is continuing at a low level within a closed area of the national park, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in its latest update on Saturday.<\/a><\/p>\n The park said the incident happened on Christmas Day in a closed area of the park where families had gathered to watch the lava.<\/p>\n It was in an area overlooking the caldera – the large crater of the volcano – and the boy would not have survived the fall, Ms Ferracane said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Park rangers said they want to remind visitors to stay on trail and out of closed areas, and to keep their children close.<\/p>\n “Those who ignore the warnings, walk past closure signs, lose track of loved ones, and sneak into closed areas to get a closer look do so at great risk.”<\/p>\n Ms Ferracane added: “Hopefully sharing the news will prevent future tragedies and near-misses.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n