A man fell some 80 metres to his death from the rim of the Grand Canyon, National Park Service officials said Tuesday, the third fatality from a fall at the famous landmark this year.

Michael Wilson, 47, of Scottsdale, Arizona, plunged from an overlook on the South Rim on Monday and died instantly, a National Park Service spokesman said.

An investigation into the death is under way.

In August, a 19-year-old Canadian man died when he plunged from an outcropping overlooking the canyon, while a 62-year-old American man on a river rafting trip died from a fall into the inner canyon.

Two to three people die from falls in the Grand Canyon every year.

AFP