2 Fall to Their Deaths, 1 Injured While Hiking in Utah's Arches National Park
Two tourists fell to their death while hiking in a popular area of Utah’s Arches National Park on Friday, authorities said.
The Grand County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that three individuals had fallen in the Delicate Arch area of the park early on Friday morning. A 65-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman were killed in the fall, while a third individual, a 30-year-old man, was flown to a local hospital.
All three individuals are believed to have been visiting the park from California and may be related, the sheriff’s office said.
Chief Ranger Scott Brown told KSL-TV that the cause of the fall is still unknown, but added that the hiking trail was wet and slick at the time. The sheriff’s office said that authorities are currently investigating the incident.
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The trail to Delicate Arch was temporarily closed on Friday after the incident, but reopened later that day with a warning that read: “Winter conditions make for slippery hiking; proceed with caution.”
According to the National Park Service’s website, Delicate Arch is “a widely recognized symbol of the state of Utah and one of the most famous geologic features in the world.”
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