Extreme athletes killed in Yosemite BASE jump accident

Extreme athlete Dean Potter and another man have died in a BASE jumping accident in Yosemite National Park, California.

A park spokesman said Potter and Graham Hunt died late on Saturday after attempting a wing-suit flight from a 7,500 foot outcropping called Taft Point.

A search-and-rescue mission began overnight when the jumpers' spotter lost contact with them. Crews found their bodies in the Yosemite Valley. No parachutes had been deployed, the official said.

Potter was renowned for his bold and sometimes rogue climbs and BASE jumps, in which he would parachute from a fixed structure or cliff.

BASE jumping is illegal in Yosemite and Potter was active campaigner to legalise the sport in the park.

Potter was 43. He completed solo ascents and tightrope walks across some of the world's most famous rocks.