Bear Attacks Guides on Sitka Alaska Cruise Excursion

Wilderness guides leading a group of cruise ship passengers on a hike were mauled by a bear outside Sitka, Alaska.

A man and a woman mauled by a bear in Alaska were airlifted by a Coast Guard helicopter to receive medical treatment.

The Coast Guard says the two are wilderness guides who were leading a group of cruise ship passengers on a hike about 30 miles north of Sitka.

The cruise vessel Wilderness Explorer on Thursday afternoon notified the Coast Guard that two of its passengers had been mauled.

The Coast Guard launched a helicopter from Sitka.

The crew hoisted the man and woman into the chopper from the woods in Angoon and transported them to emergency medical personnel in Sitka with what the Coast Guard said were "multiple injuries and severe lacerations."

Their conditions were not immediately known.

An Alaska news website said the guides used pepper spray and the animal retreated.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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