Search and rescue teams have recovered the bodies of eight tourists who were killed by a flash flood as they explored the Lima canyon in Parras, Coahuila, on Tuesday.

State Civil Protection chief Francisco Martínez Ávalos said that strong rains Tuesday afternoon provoked a sudden flood in an area that seconds previously would have been dry. It swept away and drowned the tourists who were traveling in a van and an ATV.

The state Attorney General’s Office said searchers had recovered the bodies of a 65-year-old man, a woman and four young boys and girls aged 14 to 19 after they were discovered yesterday by a teenager riding his horse through the canyon and another man.

Later that evening, search and rescue crews discovered two more bodies, a 14-year-old girl and an 18-year-old boy.

The bodies of all of the victims are awaiting autopsies to determine the official cause of death. It is unknown what relationship might have existed between the victims, though information provided by local residents suggested that they might have been part of an excursion led by the older man.

Searchers continue to look for another potential victim, a 16-year-old girl, with the help of a helicopter provided by the state government.

Source: Reforma (sp), El Imparcial (sp), Vanguardia (sp)