Young mother dies after being swept away in San Gabriel River on Bridge to Nowhere hiking trail

AZUSA, Calif. (KABC) -- A young mother died after she was swept downstream by the rushing San Gabriel River while hiking on the Bridge to Nowhere trail in the mountains north of Azusa, authorities said.

The incident happened on Sunday at the second river crossing along the trail, where fast-moving water created hazardous conditions following recent storms.

According to officials, a frantic runner alerted members of a preventive search and rescue team that the woman had fallen into the river and was carried away by the raging current. The team later located the woman, but she had already died.

The San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team had issued a warning on Saturday about dangerous conditions on the East Fork Trail, describing the river water as "raging" and reminding hikers that fast-moving currents can sweep people away in seconds, even if it looks doable.

The group's preventive search-and-rescue volunteers were already at the Bridge to Nowhere trailhead on Sunday, sharing safety tips with hikers about river crossings, when the emergency unfolded.

Video captured over the weekend shows hikers attempting to cross the river in unsafe conditions, underscoring the risks that first responders had been warning about.

The San Dimas Sheriff's Station is now reiterating that water levels in streams and rivers can rise rapidly during and after rainstorms, sometimes without warning.

Officials urge hikers to avoid entering the water altogether and to avoid taking risks around swift currents.

Authorities did not immediately release the woman's name.