An avalanche on Saturday in Utah’s Millcreek Canyon area killed four skiers and injured four others, officials said.
The Unified Police Department said the avalanche unleashed by skiers occurred at an altitude of just under 10,000 feet. The four dead people were already dead when the four survivors managed to remove them, according to The Associated Press.
Police have not yet released the names of the dead or survivors, according to the AP, but Drew Hardesty of the Utah Avalanche Center told The Salt Lake Tribune that they were all experienced skiers connected to the community. At least one of the survivors, the first one off the mountain, had hypothermia, according to Kelly Vaughen, a journalist for KUTV, an affiliate of CBS Utah.
The deaths represented the highest death toll known to an avalanche in Utah. An earlier avalanche unleashed by skiers near Moab’s Gold Basin killed four in 1992, while another avalanche killed four in the Wasatch Mountains in 1914, according to the newspaper.
Governor Spencer Cox (R) accessed Twitter over the weekend to alert skiers to current mountain conditions.
“We are grateful to first aid and others who have been involved in this rescue and recovery effort. With the danger of high avalanche now, please be extremely careful, ”tweeted Cox.
This is a terrible tragedy and our prayers go out to the victims and families involved. We are grateful to first aid and others who have been involved in this rescue and recovery effort. With the danger of high avalanche now, be extremely careful. https://t.co/2sxB85eh74
– Spencer Cox (@SpencerJCox) February 6, 2021