At least one dead and 15 missing due to a flood in the Grand Canyon

At least one person has died and around 15 have been reported missing due to a sudden flood recorded in the Grand Canyon National Park in the state of Arizona, in the United States, as confirmed by the authorities, who have requested information about people who could be visiting the area to complete the list of victims.

Park authorities have indicated in a statement on social networks that for now the body of a 46-year-old man has been found near Crystal Rapids, in the Colorado River. "There is no additional information to share at this time," he noted, after stating that about 15 people are missing and that more than 60 have been evacuated from the place.

"Grand Canyon National Park staff, in coordination with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, are continuing evacuation and response efforts and working to locate individuals who may have been in the affected area," the NPS said in a statement.

On the other hand, he has called for "citizen collaboration" to locate the missing, before adding that the staff of the Grand Canyon National Park "continues with evacuation and response efforts, and works to locate people who may have been in the affected area."

They also asked anyone who has information about hikers who were in the areas affected by the flash floods to report it to park authorities.

As of early Sunday, at least 62 people had been evacuated. The authorities had planned to evacuate more people from several camps in view of the forecasts of more storms and heavy rains for this Sunday and tomorrow, Monday. According to the most recent information, no injuries have been reported, the NPS said in a statement.

The events have been triggered after a "flash flood" that "caused significant damage to infrastructure throughout Bright Angel Canyon", destroying "almost all of the pedestrian bridges" that cross the homonymous stream and forcing the closure "until further notice" of the aforementioned affected areas where authorities are still looking for hikers, in addition to the Black Bridge and Silver Bridge, which cross the Colorado River. This, in turn, "remains closed to river traffic until further notice due to the presence of metal structures and debris in its channel."

Officials fear that the potential for more thunderstorms and heavy rain over the next several days could lead to new flash flooding, debris flows, rockfalls and rapid changes in trail and river conditions.

Grand Canyon National Park is the fourth most visited national park in the United States, with 4,430,653 recreational visits in 2025.