At least two dead and 80 rescued after flash flood hits Grand Canyon

Two people have died and more than 80 others rescued over the weekend after a major flash flood at the Grand Canyon.

One person remains unaccounted for, officials said on Monday, after Saturday's flooding in Bright Angel Creek, which flows into the Colorado River, near Phantom Ranch, in northern Arizona.

America's National Park Service said the body of a 46-year-old man was recovered on Sunday evening near Crystal Rapids. A second body was recovered later, park officials said, and gave no other details.

The families of John Giusti, a 46-year-old Texas chiropractor, and Brent Rosenkranz, a 42-year-old martial arts studio owner, identified them as the two people whose bodies had been found, said Hannah Barricks, a liaison for the families.

Timothy Smith, a 53-year-old Wyoming pilot, who went on the trip with them, remains missing, she added.

The trio contacted their families on Thursday and are understood to have made camp on Friday at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. They planned "several days of hiking, camping, fishing and exploring together", their families said in a joint statement.

The flash flood followed waves of torrential rain that wiped out trails, footbridges and other infrastructure.

Large boulders were swept into the river and knocked out the only water pipeline serving tourists and residents, according to the park service.

"As of right now, they have no reason to believe, from the tips we've been through so far, that there's anybody besides the one" missing person, incident commander Dave Black told reporters at a news conference on Monday evening.

Many visitors to the tourist attraction - that hosts 4.4 million people a year - were evacuated by helicopter.

Hiker Daniel Evans said it rained several times before a 30-minute downpour on Saturday afternoon.

"The entire time it was raining - the entire time I'm going through all this and packing - I'm just keeping my eyes upstream, just praying that a wall of water isn't coming toward us," he said.

David Gregory told CBS News that he and ​other guests of the Phantom Ranch lodging complex fled across a footbridge to higher ground, just 10 minutes before it was washed away.

"It was like a whirlpool in there, ⁠with all the debris circling around, cabins and other equipment from the maintenance work site," he said.

"I don't think we would have made it out alive... I think it would have been game over."

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Arizona congressman ⁠David Schweikert was rafting with friends through the canyon near Bright Angel Creek when they heard an approaching roar.

"It sounded like a handful of locomotives coming ​through and smashing boulders," he told the Arizona Republic. His group managed to hike out to safety, he said.

Tourists have been barred from staying overnight at lodges and hotels within the national park due to the lack of mains water, while year-round residents have been asked to conserve water where they can.

More rain and thunderstorms are expected this week.

(c) Sky News 2026: At least two dead and 80 rescued after flash flood hits Grand Canyon