The view from the Grand View Point Outlook in the Canyonlands National Park near Moab, Utah on April 24, 2018. Three hikers have died in Utah as extreme heat struck the western US state in recent days, officials said July 15. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse
LOS ANGELES — Three people, including a father-daughter pair, died while hiking in the western US state of Utah over the weekend, according to US National Park Service officials.
Two of the victims, a 52-year-old man and his 23-year-old daughter, died Friday in Canyonlands National Park after they had “gotten lost and run out of water,” local authorities said in a statement.
The temperature at the time was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius), and by the time emergency medical personnel arrived on scene, both were pronounced dead.
READ: Heat wave grills large parts of the US causing deaths in the West
On Saturday, a 30-year-old woman was found dead on a separate hike in Snow Canyon Park, local police reported, while warning the public about the risks of dehydration.
The three deaths are the latest victims of a significant heat wave that began two weeks ago in the western United States and has since begun moving east.
On Monday, the National Weather Service reported 150 million people were under warnings for extreme heat.
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Las Vegas, Nevada, recorded its all-time record temperature on July 7, when the mercury hit 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.9 degrees Celsius).
The heat wave comes in the aftermath of the Earth’s hottest June ever recorded, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Recurring heat waves are a marker of climate change caused by humanity’s use of fossil fuels, according to scientists.