Death Valley tourist rescued after burning feet on sand dunes [Video]

A tourist was hospitalized after suffering third-degree burns on his feet on Saturday when he lost his flip flops at a national park in California where temperatures soared past 50 C.

“He burned entirely through the skin of his feet,” said Abby Wines, a management analyst at Death Valley National Park, in an email to CTVNews.ca on Friday.

The 42-year-old man from Belgium burned his feet while taking a short walk on the sand dunes at Death Valley National Park in Death Valley, Calif., on Saturday, according to a press release issued by the U.S. National Park Service on Tuesday.

While the air temperature surpassed 50 C, the sand temperature would have been much hotter at probably around 70 C, Wines said.

National Park Service (NPS) staff believe he wasn’t far from the parking lot when the incident happened mid-afternoon, Wines said.

The man’s family called for help and got …