Update: Two Federal Way Teens Killed in Hiking Accident

Two Federal Way teenagers were killed Sunday night, Sept. 16, after falling during a hike near Otter Falls outside of North Bend.

The incident happened sometime Sunday evening. A group of four teen boys was hiking the area and two of the four climbed a rock near the falls. Two of the boys fell from the rock and were seriously injured. 

The two other teens tried to help the injured boys. One ran down the trail for help.  He found two other hikers on the trail that went up the trail to assist the injured boys.  The teen, whose brother was one of the boys who fell and died, ran 5 miles down the trail until he was able to find a Forest Service employee that called 911. There's no cell service in the area, so likely the employee had to drive down the mountain to call 911.

Apparently the two men that went back up the trail to help, stayed with the injured boys and the other boy and made a fire to keep them warm while waiting for rescue personnel.  King County Sheriff's Sergeant Cindi West said they also performed CPR on the two boys when they stopped breathing. 

The King County Sheriff’s Office received the call around 7:30 PM and sent Search and Rescue Unit members to the area. Snohomish County also responded with a helicopter.

When the search and rescue teams arrived the boys had already died as a result of their injuries. The boys were 16 and 18 years of age.

The names of those involved are not yet available.

--Information from the King County Sheriff's Office

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Original Story:

Two hikers have apparently fallen and are seriously injured somewhere near the Taylor River Trail, north of North Bend and about 9 miles north of Middle Fork Snoqualmie, and emergency workers are on the way to locate and rescue them.

King County Sheriff's Office Sergeant Cindi West said a third person came down from the trail, which has little cell phone reception, to call 911 and report the emergency before heading back to aid the hikers.

Very little information was available as of 9:15 p.m., West said, except that one of the hikers has a badly broken leg and the other a serious head injury.

She said at this time, the genders, ages, or cities of residence of the injured are not known, nor is it clear whether the 911 caller had been hiking with the others or came upon them. West said it sounds like the hikers likely had been hiking the Taylor River Trail, which is little-used compared with the Mount Si and Middle Fork Snoqualmie areas.

The rescue operation likely will take hours, West said, and the rescue workers will be setting up a command post at the Taylor River Campground.

Patch will bring you further information as it becomes available.