Three killed, 18 missing by landslide in Washington state

At least three people have been killed and 18 are missing in a huge landslide in the north-western US state of Washington, officials say.

The landslide injured seven people, destroyed 30 houses and covered a road near the town of Oso, about 90km (55 miles) north of Seattle.

It was at least 41m (135ft) wide and 54m deep, local authorities said.

They say that two people were killed at the scene and one died in hospital. The injured included a six-month-old boy.
'Wall of mud'

An eyewitness told the Daily Herald that he was driving on the road and had to quickly brake to avoid the mudslide.

"I just saw the darkness coming across the road. Everything was gone in three seconds,'' Paulo Falcao told the newspaper.

Robin Youngblood, another witness, told the Seattle Times: "All of a sudden thee was a wall of mud. Then it hit and we were rolling. The house was in sticks. We were buried under things, and we dug ourselves out."

Residents reported hearing cries from those trapped, but local fire chief Travis Hots said the dangerous conditions were hampering the rescue effort.

Search-and-rescue help came from across the state, including the Washington State Patrol and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The landslide cut off the city of Darrington and clogged the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, prompting fears of severe flooding downstream if the build-up of water behind the debris breaks through suddenly.

The authorities say the landslide was caused by recent heavy rain.

More rain is expected in parts of Washington on Sunday, and some people have been advised to move to higher ground.

The area has had problems in the past with unstable land.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26703994


Pictures on the link, it looks horrendous.

At least it didn't land on a school like the one in Wales all those years ago.

I saw this. The poor people who were covered in their cars...they said one minute they were driving, then...blackness. Some of them were 20' under the mud.

I was absolutely disgusted when I read later that they could hear people crying out but wouldn't do anything because it was unsafe. When the children in the school in Wales were buried they could have had a whole bloody mountain land on them, and they never stopped digging.

Sassy wrote:I was absolutely disgusted when I read later that they could hear people crying out but wouldn't do anything because it was unsafe.   When the children in the school in Wales were buried they could have had a whole bloody mountain land on them, and they never stopped digging.

Aberfan, the pictures from our black and white tele still haunt me to this day. But they kept going using bare hands and saved countless children even after dark.

gerber wrote:

Sassy wrote:I was absolutely disgusted when I read later that they could hear people crying out but wouldn't do anything because it was unsafe.   When the children in the school in Wales were buried they could have had a whole bloody mountain land on them, and they never stopped digging.

Aberfan, the pictures from our black and white tele still haunt me to this day.  But they kept going using bare hands and saved countless children even after dark.  

I know Gerbs, they just wouldn't stop.  The village lost nearly all it's children. I was out in Singapore, but my Grandparents sent us the newspapers about it.

Aberfan, there is more than died children buried under that story.

Too true!