Dozens of stranded Arizona hikers rescued - WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC

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Dozens of stranded Arizona hikers rescued

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Posted by Eric Zott - email
Forty to 50 adults and children were stranded. (Source: KOLD-TV) Forty to 50 adults and children were stranded. (Source: KOLD-TV)
Rescue teams mobilized on the ground and in a helicopter. (Source: KOLD-TV) Rescue teams mobilized on the ground and in a helicopter. (Source: KOLD-TV)
R rescuers used a technique that involved roping together hikers and flotation devices to help get them through high water. (Source: KOLD-TV) R rescuers used a technique that involved roping together hikers and flotation devices to help get them through high water. (Source: KOLD-TV)
PHOENIX (AP) -

Authorities say dozens of hikers have been rescued after being stranded by high water from heavy rains in an Arizona canyon.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department says 40 to 50 adults and children were stranded Saturday throughout a Tucson-area canyon when waters rushed down mountainsides.

Deputy Tom Peine tells Tucson area media that the rescue effort involved teams on the ground and in a helicopter.

He says that the first group of hikers was led out of Bear Canyon in the Catalina Mountains just after 5 p.m. , and the last group about three hours later.

With some hikers, rescuers used a technique that involved roping together hikers and flotation devices to help get them through high water. Some of the hikers were flown out by helicopter.

Peine says the hikers might not have realized that rains could cause canyon flooding long after the down pour ends.

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