17 hikers rescued in US

Washington July 25 (IANS) Seventeen hikers stranded by floods on a mountain in the US state of Arizona were rescued by search and emergency crews officials said.

According to the Pima County Sheriff s Department (PCSD) search and rescue deputies fire crews and a rescue team worked from Sunday night to early Monday to retrieve the 17 hikers including a four-year-old boy reports Xinhua news agency.

The police received a call for help shortly on Sunday evening.

Two hikers clinging to tree branches were airlifted on Monday by a helicopter from a rocky narrow and flood-running creek to safety.

Nine people were killed in a flash flooding in a canyon in Arizona last week.

Monsoon rains a regular summertime occurrence in Arizona often leads to swift and deadly flash floods as rainwater rushes down the mountains into dry canyons and creeks.

--IANS
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