BRIGHTON, Utah — A child was killed Thursday after getting caught in an avalanche while backcountry skiing with her family near the Brighton Ski Resort.
The Brighton Ski Patrol and Wasatch Backcountry Rescue responded to the avalanche scene just after 12:45 p.m.
According to officials, the girl and her family went into an out-of-bounds area known as The Rock Garden when the girl was taken up along the slide path. It's not known if the family had used Brighton lifts to access the area where they were skiing.
Search and rescue crews located the girl after she had reportedly been buried in snow for up to 30 minutes, and immediately provided first aid before she was transported by ambulance to the hospital in critical condition. A Life Flight helicopter was dispatched, but was forced to turn around due to heavy winds and a lack of a safe landing zone.
Unified Police said the girl later died of her injuries.
The girl's identity was not released, but police said she was between 10 and 13 years old.
“It’s a very, very solemn and depressing thing to notify people of. It’s very difficult. It’s very difficult being to think of the idea behind a family being together and having something so tragic happen," said Unified Police Det. Quin Wilkins.
The deadly avalanche came the day after Brighton and other Cottonwood canyons resorts were forced to close early due to the massive snow totals on Wednesday. The closure decisions were made with guest safety in mind, the resorts said.
Father snowmobiling with son dies in Wasatch County avalanche:
On Wednesday, a father was killed after being buried by an avalanche while he was snowmobiling with his son in Wasatch County.
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