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Church group of 15 youth, 2 adults rescued from ‘treacherous’ Utah slot canyon

Crews lifted the group from Sandthrax Canyon Friday after they were trapped overnight.

Garfield County Search and Rescue were able to reach and retrieve 15 “young men” and two adults Friday from one of the “most treacherous slot canyons” in the county, officials said.

The church group hiked into Sandthrax Canyon on Thursday morning and later became trapped. Search and rescue crews were able to provide food and water for the trapped individuals that night.

Crews later lifted them out of the canyon on Friday morning. Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins told FOX 13 that one of the adult leaders of the youth group has a sprained ankle, but that there were no other injuries.

Perkins tweeted that Department of Public Safety deputies, as well as a DPS helicopter and rope-rescue personnel, responded to the scene. He provided no further details to The Salt Lake Tribune.

Sandthrax Canyon is one of four North Wash canyons near Hanksville and is considered highly physical and for experts only. Perkins told KSL that these four slot canyons receive more search and rescue calls than the rest of the county combined.