In 1946, the bus was abandoned by construction workers just west of Teklanika River, Alaska.
The 1940s-era bus was made famous by 24-year-old adventurer Chris McCandless who died in it during 1992 summer.
A 1940s-era bus where a 24-year-old adventurer starved to death in the Alaskan wilderness has been removed after tourists died while trying to reach it.
A US Army helicopter, Chinook airlifted the vehicle from the spot just west of the Teklanika River, where it had been left to rust for more than half a century.
The bus was made famous by Into The Wild, a book and film that told the story of Chris McCandless’ death after he lived inside it for 114 days during the summer of 1992.
Its removal on Thursday came after the state was called to 15 bus-related search and rescue operations between 2009 and 2017, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The bus was blamed for encouraging risky hikes as adventurers crossed dangerous terrain trying to find it.
Two travelers died after drowning while on their way to the vehicle in separate incidents in 2010 and 2019, officials said.
Written in 1996 by Jon Krakauer, Into The Wild told a version of 24-year-old Chris McCandless’ story.
In 1990 the adventurer graduated, gave his $24,500 college fund to Oxfam, cut communication with his parents and began a journey of thousands of miles across Western US.
At one point early in his journey McCandless crossed the border into Mexico before hiking back into the US.
At Lake Mead he was forced to abandon his car after it got caught in a flash flood, and he labored for months as a grain elevator before hitchhiking more than 3,000 miles to Alaska.
In December 1991, McCandless arrived at Slab City, in the Imperial Valley, and met Tracy Tatro (pictured, played by Kristen Stewart), a teenage girl who showed interest in McCandless, but he rejected her because she was underage.
McCandless headed down the trail with only 10 pounds (4500 g) of rice, a .22 caliber rifle, several boxes of rifle rounds, a camera, and a small selection of reading materialincluding a field guide to the region’s edible plants.
He had planned to hike to the coast but the boggy terrain of the summer proved too difficult, and he decided instead to camp in a derelict bus left by a construction company.
In July, 1992, he tried to leave after realizing his life would be better with others in it, only to find the route blocked by a snow-melt raging river.
He died sometime around the week of August 18, 1992, after surviving more than 100 days on edible roots and berries, as well as an assortment of game.
Two weeks after his death, his body was found by moose hunters.
A film adaptation was released in September 2007, directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch as McCandless.
This pushed many to hike the dangerous route to the abandoned bus.
The bus was airlifted away on Thursday, 18th June, 2020 for safety of tourists.
