Woman Falls Into Whitewater Rapids At National Park, Dies

A woman died Thursday at Grand Canyon National Park after falling into the whitewater rapids, according to authorities.

Sixty-eight-year-old Mary Kelley of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, “entered the river at the top of Hance Rapid,” the National Parks Service (NPS) said in an announcement Friday. Kelley was taking part in a multi-day private boating trip and was on the ninth day. After entering the water, Kelley’s group dragged her out of the rapids and “noted she was unresponsive,” according to authorities. The group immediately began administering CPR.

The Grand Canyon National Park was alerted around 11:18 a.m. to an emergency. Park rangers were flown to the area and attempted life-saving measures but “all resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.”

The NPS and the Coconino County Medical Examiner are still investigating the incident and no other information has been provided. (RELATED: Teenager Goes Whitewater Rafting, Gets Brutally Mauled By Crocodile) 

Hance Rapid “is a powerful whitewater rapid formed by debris from flash floods that tore through Red Canyon,” according to the Grand Canyon Conservancy. The rapid is “considered one of the hardest and longest rapids in the Grand Canyon,” according to GoRafting. The Grand Canyon National Park notes Hance Rapids is a “challenging whitewater” that takes boaters on an “exciting river trip through the canyon.”