“Park rangers and other members of the Zion Search and Rescue Team responded quickly to this event, and we are continuing our efforts,” Jeff Bradybaugh, Zion National Park superintendent said. More than 20 Zion Search and Rescue Team members are working in and near the Virgin River searching for this missing person. In response, park rangers continued monitoring the river during the night and mobilized additional searchers early on August 20. Later in the evening, the National Park Service received a report of a hiker, Jetal Agnihotri of Tucson, Arizona, who was overdue from a trip in the Narrows. on Friday, August 19 of multiple hikers being swept off their feet by a flash flood in the Narrows near the Temple of Sinawava. Zion is the most-visited of Utah's five national parks and attracts nearly 3 million visitors a year.SPRINGDALE, Utah – Zion National Park received a report around 2:15 p.m. The warning said rivers and streams at the popular park and in neighboring Springdale and Rockville are already elevated and additional rain will swell the waterways to dangerous levels. Tuesday for Zion National Park, as the saturated area could be hit again with light to moderate rainfall. The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings through 7:45 p.m. The group was in Keyhole Canyon, (PDF) which narrows to 6 feet across in parts and involves climbing, swimming and rappelling.īaker said the park received 0.63 inch of rain in one hour Monday. Park rangers found the group's empty cars at the canyon's trailhead that evening. Someone who knew the group alerted park officials Monday that they hadn't checked in after their trip. The park doesn't close canyons until actual flooding occurs, which was around 5 p.m. Park rangers advised the group when they picked up their permit Monday that weather conditions were poor, but until canyons are closed, Baker said rangers leave it up to visitors to determine whether it's safe to continue their excursions. The other bodies were found later Tuesday afternoon, Baker said.īaker did not know if the bodies found were male or female. In the park, rescuers were waiting for water levels to drop before entering the canyon to search for the missing. Tuesday and a second body was found an hour later. The first body was found around 1:30 p.m. She didn't have further details on their identities. The group hailed from California and Nevada and were all in their 40s and 50s, Baker said. In Zion, rescuers were waiting for water levels to drop before entering the canyon to search for the missing hikers. One person remains missing from the small polygamous town of Hildale, Utah. The deaths come after 12 people died when fast-moving floodwaters on Monday swept away two vehicles 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. The 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.
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