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Downey High School Athletes Rescued From Mount Baldy

A high school hiking trip involving athletes and coaches at Downey High School went awry, and two students were stranded on Mount Baldy.

About a dozen teen athletes and their Downey High School coaches had to be rescued during a hiking trip on Mount Baldy. (Paige Austin/Patch)

LOS ANGELES, CA — Two teen athletes from Downey High School were airlifted from Mount Baldy in San Bernardino County Tuesday morning after becoming stranded overnight while on a hiking trip with three school coaches and 10 other athletes. The rescue caps a tense overnight search effort after the other athletes and coaches were rescued at sundown.

The athletes appeared to have weathered the overnight lows in the 60s in fair condition, according to NBC Los Angeles broadcast footage of the rescue.

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The Downey Unified School District issued a statement about the ordeal.

"We were extremely distraught to find out that a group of students and coaches accompanying them became stuck on the mountain near sundown," the statement reads. "We have been working closely with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's (Department) from the moment we were made aware and throughout the overnight hours. Thankfully this first group of 10 students and three coaches were rescued last night and reunited with their families. We were further made aware that search-and-rescue were still actively looking for two remaining students who were unaccounted for."

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department tweeted news of the happy ending at about 9 a.m. Tuesday.

"The search for two missing teens on Mt. Baldy has concluded. The male and female were found by Search & Rescue members and 40-King is airlifting both hikers off the mountain. Both hikers appear to be uninjured."

According to the school district, the coaches remained on scene overnight, and district staffers arrived at the site Tuesday morning "to provide additional support to our students and their families."

"We will be conducting a thorough review into this situation and take appropriate steps to prevent this type of incident from happening in the future," the school district statement said.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.

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