Hiker dies in Utah's Bell Canyon

A hiker in Bell Canyon died Tuesday of a cardiac arrest, despite attempts to resuscitate him.

The man, who was in his 60s but whose name has not been released to the public because police are still trying to contact his family, was hiking with a friend on a hillside near Bell Canyon Reservoir east of Wasatch Boulevard in Sandy.

"It appears as if he had a heart attack and dropped dead on the hillside," said Lt. Craig Watson of the Sandy Police Dept., which was handling the investigation. Watson added that there did not appear to be foul play involved.

Emergency dispatch was alerted to the incident at about 10:24 a.m., said Brian Anderton of the Unified Fire Authority. Emergency responders from the UFA, Sandy Fire Department and Sandy Police Department were met by hikers at the trailhead, who directed them to the dying hiker.

A bystander who happened to be a nurse tried to administer CPR but was unable to save the hiker.

"There were a lot of people involved in trying to gain access to him and trying to give aid to him," Anderton said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, authorities were bringing the man out of the canyon on a four-wheeler and were in the process of contacting his family.

hstevens@sltrib.com

Twitter: @Harry_Stevens