Five tourists have been rescued after they got trapped underground at Grand Canyon Caverns.
For 24 hours, five people were stuck about 200 feet beneath the Grand Canyon Caverns in Arizona. The group got stuck this past Sunday after an elevator “stopped working,” said Coconino County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jon Paxton Paxton in an interview with CNN.
On Tuesday morning, Paxton shared that all the tourists were safely rescued. “All subjects were safely removed at approximately 7:30 pm last night and were all in good condition,” Paxton told PEOPLE.
The issue with the elevator was found after people started exiting the caverns. There were 21 flights of stairs, several ladders and platforms leading to the exit. However, some of the tourists were physically incapable of climbing them.
The group, which included at least two people in their 70s, went down to the cavern for a 30-minute tour. “I can’t say thank you enough because they did everything so professionally, so safe,” said Sherry Jimenez, one of the folks who was rescued, KNXV-TV reports.
