U.S. authorities suspect that around 15 hikers are missing after flash floods hit several areas of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
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The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) said the flooding began at around 2:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, affecting the Bright Angel Canyon and Phantom Ranch areas.
As a result of the situation, 62 people were evacuated from the area by helicopter. Authorities are expected to continue search and rescue operations, while no injuries have been reported so far.
Forty-one-year-old Nikki Baggs was among those evacuated. She was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with two friends.
“It was all terrifying. It was a beautiful day, and then people started screaming and running,” Baggs told the BBC.
She said she had just put her belongings in a cabin at Phantom Ranch, an isolated area at the bottom of the canyon, when she went out with her friends to spend the day.
Everything changed when the rain began. Baggs and her two friends sought shelter on higher ground and sat at a picnic table, but shortly afterward park rangers asked them to move again to a more sheltered location.
They remained in the area for several hours, along with other people, until they were picked up by helicopter at around 9:30 p.m. local time.
Baggs said their plan had been to have dinner at Phantom Ranch. However, after what they experienced, she and her friends felt only grateful to have survived.
The 42-year-old praised the work of the park rangers, emphasizing that their rapid and coordinated response gave them a sense of security in an uncertain situation.
The National Park Service has asked anyone who may have information about hikers or backpackers who were inside the canyon along the Bright Angel Creek corridor on Saturday to contact the authorities.
