Two skiers were killed and a third was rescued following an avalanche Thursday in the mountains outside Salt Lake City that occurred after several days of spring snowstorms, authorities said.
The Great Salt Lake Unified Police Department confirmed to CBS News Thursday afternoon that two of the skiers died in the avalanche and a third was rescued. The names of the victims have not been released.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera reported earlier that the rescued skier extricated himself from the snow, was rescued at midday and taken to a hospital.
Rick Bowmer / AP
A helicopter rescue team flew over the area Thursday afternoon and confirmed the other two skiers had died, Rivera said. They are two men, aged 23 and 32. Their names have not been released, but their families have been notified, the sheriff said.
Conditions were not safe enough to allow a restart Thursday and crews planned to go out Friday morning, weather permitting, Rivera said.
Rivera said she believed the man who was rescued was the one who called for help. Officers were speaking to him at the hospital to get more information about what happened, the sheriff said.
The skiers entered the area Thursday morning, she said.
Craig Gordon with the Utah Avalanche Center said about 2.5 feet of heavy, wet snow fell in the area over the past three days.
The skiers would have had to be very experienced to find themselves on “very serious terrain,” he said.
The deaths bring the number of avalanche deaths this winter to 15, which is lower than the average of about 30 people killed by avalanches in the United States each year.
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