WORLD> America
Search to resume for missing Grand Canyon tourists
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-19 17:40

PHOENIX, US - A handful of hikers remained unaccounted for after flooding struck a tiny village near the Grand Canyon rim, a community so remote it is the only one in America where the mail is delivered by mule.

In this photo released by the the National Park Service (NPS), an NPS employee is lowered down to a point overlooking the confluence of Havasu Creek and the Colorado River. An earthen dam broke near the Grand Canyon early Sunday after heavy rains that forced officials to pluck hundreds of residents and campers from the gorge by helicopter. [Agencies]
 
The search was to resume Tuesday for about 11 people missing near the Havasupai Tribe's village of Supai, said Gerry Blair, a spokesman for the Coconino County Sheriff's Department. He said it's possible those people might have already left, but authorities would assume they were still in the canyon until that could be determined.

The 11 hikers either were swept downstream or simply left the area on Saturday evening and don't know they're considered to be missing, Chris English, a Bureau of Indian Affairs spokesman, told The Arizona Republic.

"We still don't have any reports of fatalities," English said.

Helicopters on Monday took turns ferrying 85 people out of Supai, about 2,300 feet below the Grand Canyon rim. Rescuers transported another 170 people out of Supai Canyon on Sunday.

Supai, about 30 miles west of Grand Canyon Village, is extremely remote. It's an eight-mile hike from the nearest parking lot, dropping straight down on a winding canyon trail.

The village itself includes homes, a K-8 school, a post office, a cafe, clinic and a store. It sits in a region that's popular for hikers and river runners, with towering blue-green waterfalls. About 400 people live there year-round.

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