Overview

• First responders were dispatched just before 8 p.m. Wednesday to State Route 88 near Milepost 219, about four miles east of Tortilla Flat.
• Crews found one person about 40 feet down a steep slope, with the vehicle and two others more than 350 feet below the cliff.
• Technical rescue members were lowered by rope with a stokes basket, and DPS Ranger One hoisted personnel and the remaining patients from the canyon.
• The two people recovered from the lower canyon were airlifted to a local trauma hospital in critical condition, and no rescuers were injured.
• The operation lasted about 3 hours and 42 minutes and involved Superstition Fire & Medical District, Mesa Fire Tactical Rescue Team, and Central Arizona Search and Rescue, while the crash cause and victim identities remain unreported.