4 missing in Provo Canyon, Utah, avalanche
Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2003 8:16 pm
PROVO, Utah (AP / KSL News) -- Rescue workers were searching Friday for four people reported missing after an avalanche in Provo Canyon, authorities said.
Preliminary reports indicate witnesses saw seven people near the avalanche, but search and rescue crews at the scene tell KSL-TV four people are missing and presumed burried.
The avalanche in the Aspen Grove area of the canyon about 25 miles northeast of Provo and north of Sundance ski resort was reported Friday afternoon.
Utah County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Dennis Harris said initial reports were that as many as seven people were missing after the avalanche. Rescue crews from Utah and Wasatch county as well as workers from Sundance were searching for the people or trying to confirm their whereabouts, Harris said.
Harris said a snowshoer who witnessed the avalanche around 4:30 p.m. MST reported that several people did not appear to come out of it.
"Right now we've got all the (Utah County) canyons blocked off. It's an extreme avalanche danger," Harris said.
A winter storm hit northern Utah dumped more than two feet in some mountain areas. The storm was decreasing late Friday afternoon in most areas, but had dropped 29 inches in 24 hours in the Sundance, said National Weather Service forecaster Chris Brenchley.
Preliminary reports indicate witnesses saw seven people near the avalanche, but search and rescue crews at the scene tell KSL-TV four people are missing and presumed burried.
The avalanche in the Aspen Grove area of the canyon about 25 miles northeast of Provo and north of Sundance ski resort was reported Friday afternoon.
Utah County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Dennis Harris said initial reports were that as many as seven people were missing after the avalanche. Rescue crews from Utah and Wasatch county as well as workers from Sundance were searching for the people or trying to confirm their whereabouts, Harris said.
Harris said a snowshoer who witnessed the avalanche around 4:30 p.m. MST reported that several people did not appear to come out of it.
"Right now we've got all the (Utah County) canyons blocked off. It's an extreme avalanche danger," Harris said.
A winter storm hit northern Utah dumped more than two feet in some mountain areas. The storm was decreasing late Friday afternoon in most areas, but had dropped 29 inches in 24 hours in the Sundance, said National Weather Service forecaster Chris Brenchley.