A grizzly bear attacked seven teenagers in Alaska, injuring four of them, Alaska State Troopers said.
The teens were hiking in the Talkeetna Mountains east of Denali National Park and were trying to cross a river when the grizzly attacked Saturday night, the troopers said Sunday.
The two 17-year-old students in the lead, Joshua Berg of New York and Samuel Gottsegen of Denver, bore the brunt of the attack, the troopers said.
Other members were able to activate an emergency beacon and the group was rescued on Sunday morning by the Alaska Air National Guard, the troopers said.
While Berg and Gottsegen were the most severely mauled, two other students, 16-year-old Noah Allaire of Albuquerque, N.M., and 18-year-old Victor Martin of Richmond, Calif., also were hospitalized with injuries.
"There are risks, and we are just so thankful and relieved that he’s OK," Samuel Gottsegen's father John told TODAY.
Martin was released late Sunday but the other three remained hospitalized. Berg remained in serious condition on Monday, while Gottsegen's conditon was upgraded to good. Allaire's condition was not immediately released, but he was previously said to be in good condition.
The three other teens received minor injuries or suffered from exposure-related ailments, the troopers said.
According to local media reports, the mauling occurred at around 8:30 p.m. local time (12 a.m. ET Sunday). The personal locator beacon was activated at around 9:30 p.m. local time, . The group was able to pitch a tent and provide first aid to each other while waiting for emergency crews, who reportedly arrived at 2:45 a.m.
"I think it's great that they were able to, for one thing they were prepared to be out on the wilderness they had the necessary gear," Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said according to ABC News.
"Those were the right things to do, they were able to keep their heads about them, stay together and look after each other," she said.
Wilderness expedition
The students were on the 24th day of a 30-day backpacking trek through the Alaska wilderness as part of the National Outdoor Leadership School.
The bear was a sow that appeared to be guarding a cub, said Don Ford, the outdoor school's Alaska director.
"They believe there was a cub," Ford said. "They didn't actually see the cub, but they saw some rustling in the brush."
The seven students were part of a larger group that included three instructors, the school said in a statement.
Ford said the entire expedition was terminated and the remaining students and instructors were being flown back to the school's Alaska headquarters.
The school has never before had a bear maul any of its Alaska expedition members, Ford said.
"This is our 40th year of operation in Alaska. We have not had a bear attack in all of that 40 years," he said.
The National Outdoor Leadership School, based in Lander, Wyoming, is a non-profit educational organization that conducts expeditions and instructional courses around the world.