A group of six motorcyclists riding through a portion of Death Valley National Park experienced a lethal emergency Saturday amid record-breaking heat. One member of the group died from heat exposure and another was transported to Las Vegas and hospitalized with "severe heat illness," while the others were treated at the scene, KLAS reports. Emergency medical flight helicopters couldn't respond because they generally can't safely operate in temperatures above 120 degrees Fahrenheit, ABC 7 reports. On Saturday and Sunday Death Valley hit 128 degrees Fahrenheit, beating the previous record high temperature of 127.
"High heat like this can pose real threats to your health," the national park's superintendent said in a statement. "While this is a very exciting time to experience potential world record-setting temperatures in Death Valley, we encourage visitors to choose their activities carefully, avoiding prolonged periods of time outside of an air-conditioned vehicle or building when temperatures are this high." The statement warned that the heavy safety gear necessary for motorcycle riding adds to the danger, and that heat illness and injury can build up over the course of multiple days and have a cumulative effect. The group was traveling through Badwater Basin, an area that includes North America's lowest point at 282 feet below sea level, per NPS. Death Valley lies mostly in California, but portions of it are in Nevada. (More Death Valley National Park stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
