Woman dies after falling into whitewater rapids at Grand Canyon National Park

This 2019 photo provided by the National Park Service shows the Hance Rapid located where Red...
This 2019 photo provided by the National Park Service shows the Hance Rapid located where Red Canyon intersects with the Colorado River at River Mile 77. A Colorado woman died when she fell into whitewater rapids on the Colorado River while on a boating trip in Grand Canyon National Park, park officials said Friday, March 25, 2022. Mary Kelley, 68, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, entered the river at the top of Hance Rapid, Colorado River mile 77. Members of the group pulled her out of the water, noted she was unresponsive, and began CPR. Park rangers were flown into the location with the park helicopter and all resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. Kelley was on day nine of a multi-day private boating trip. (Carl Bowman/NPS via AP)(Carl Bowman/NPS via AP)
Published: Mar. 28, 2022 at 10:23 AM PDT
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(CNN) -- A woman died in Grand Canyon National Park on Thursday after falling into rapids on the Colorado River, according to the National Park Service.

The woman -- identified as 68-year-old Mary Kelley of Steamboat Springs, Colorado -- was on the ninth day of a private boating trip when she “entered the river at the top of Hance Rapid,” the park service said in a statement. It described Hance Rapid in part as a “highly technical and powerful whitewater rapid” at the Colorado River’s intersection with Red Canyon.

Kelley was unresponsive when other group members pulled her from the water, and they began performing CPR. Park rangers flew to the location by helicopter, but efforts to resuscitate Kelley were unsuccessful, the statement said.

An investigation by the park service and the medical examiner of Coconino County, Arizona, remains ongoing.

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