One Girl Dies, One Injured, After Falling into Mine Shaft

Jenny Albano

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A 13 year-old girl and a 10 year-old girl fell into a mine shaft while riding on an All-Terrain Vehicle in Chloride, Arizona. The 13 year-old was pronounced dead and the 10 year-old had serious injuries when the girls were found on Sunday, September 2. The 10 year-old was transported to University Medical Center in Nevada and was reported to be in critical condition on Sunday afternoon.

Seth Johnson, a neighbor of the girls and their family's landlord, said the two were half-sisters and identified them as 13-year-old Rikki Howard and 10-year-old Casie Hicks. Officials had not released their identities Sunday afternoon.

The two girls disappeared around 7 P.M. Saturday night and were found the next morning.

"There's a significant amount of abandoned mines out there that are hazardous to the public's health. Most of those mines are from old prospectors who would go in and they would mine and they'd just pick up leave. And there are some very dangerous ones that are very deep," said Laurie Swartzbaugh, deputy director of the Arizona State Mine Inspector's office.