Two boys flown to hospital following snowmobiling accident

HEBER CITY — Two boys from Heber City were taken by medical helicopter to Primary Children's Medical Center following an accident Friday in the Mill Hollow area near the west fork of the Duchesne.

The Wasatch County Sheriff's office said the young brothers, ages 7 and 14, were visiting the area and snowmobiling with parents and siblings when the accident happened. Police said the boys rode too close to the edge of a seemingly flat area and fell when a cornice, or ridge of snow, collapsed from underneath them.

Wasatch County chief deputy Jared Rigby said the brothers fell about 50 feet before being buried by snow from the cornice coming down on top of them. The boys weren't breathing when they were pulled them out, as much as 45 minutes later. No information about the boys' condition was available Friday night.

CPR was being administered on both boys as they were taken in separate medical helicopters, Rigby reported. The boys' father traveled to the hospital in one of the medical helicopters, while their mother and the rest of family were brought out by rescue teams.

Rigby said initial calls about the accident started coming in just before 4 p.m. from family members who had been contacted by someone on the mountain. Cellphone service in the area was poor, but the caller was able to relay that a possible avalanche had occurred and two people were possibly trapped.

Search and rescue teams from the Summit County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Forest Service and Utah State Parks also responded to the accident.

— McKenzie Romero

Twitter: McKenzieRomero