The half-mile canyon takes anywhere from an hour to about four hours to complete, and only 80 people are allowed in per day.īaker said the park received 0.63 inch of rain in one hour Monday. The group was in Keyhole Canyon, which narrows to 6 feet across in parts and involves climbing, rappelling and swimming through several pools of water. Baker said conditions were too risky for rescuers to enter Tuesday so they yelled in from above and below the canyon but heard no response. Park rangers found the group's empty cars at the canyon's trailhead that evening. That group of hikers alerted a ranger, but at that point flash flooding had begun and the ranger couldn't enter, she said. Monday, she said.īaker said the group of seven was spotted in the canyon about an hour earlier by another group on their way out. The park doesn't close canyons until there is actual flooding, which happened around 5 p.m. But until canyons are closed, rangers leave it up to visitors to determine whether it's safe to continue their excursions, she said. Park rangers advised the group when they picked up their permit Monday morning that weather conditions were poor and flooding was likely, Baker said. She said park officials have no way of knowing if the three people missing were trapped in the canyon or had been carried downstream. Two were found near the mouth of the canyon, and two were downstream.īaker said rescuers Tuesday evening were searching downstream for the man and two women who were still missing. ![]() The third body was found later Tuesday afternoon and a fourth was found in the evening, Baker said. Tuesday and a second body was found an hour later. The first body was found around 1:30 p.m. ![]() She said their identities were not being released until their families were notified, but the bodies found Tuesday were those of three men and one woman. The group hailed from California and Nevada and were all in their 40s and 50s, Baker said. ![]() In Zion, the risk of additional flash flooding kept rescuers from entering the canyon to search for the missing hikers. One person remains missing from the small polygamous town of Hildale. The deaths come after 12 people died when fast-moving floodwaters swept away two vehicles Monday near the Utah-Arizona border, about 20 miles south of the park. They went canyoneering before park officials closed slot canyons that evening due to flood warnings. SALT LAKE CITY - Heavy rain sent flash floods coursing through a narrow slot canyon in southern Utah's Zion National Park, killing four people and leaving three others missing, officials said Tuesday night.įour bodies were found a day after the group of four men and three women set out Monday to hike down the canyon, park spokeswoman Holly Baker said.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |