4 dead, 3 missing in flash flood in Utah’s Zion park

Associated Press

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.

Four 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. They went canyoneering before park officials closed slot canyons that evening due to flood warnings.

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. One person remains missing from the small polygamous town of Hildale.

In Zion, the risk of additional flash flooding kept rescuers from entering the canyon to search for the missing hikers. The group hailed from California and Nevada and were all in their 40s and 50s, Baker said.

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 first body was found about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, and a second body was found an hour later.

The third body was found later Tuesday afternoon and a fourth was found in the evening, Baker said.

Two were found near the mouth of the canyon, and two were downstream.

Baker said rescuers Tuesday evening were searching downstream for the man and two women who were still missing.