Four people confirmed dead in Washington State mudslide

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SNOHOMISH COUNTY (NEWS1130) – Rescue crews are still searching for survivors from yesterday’s deadly landslide in Washington State.

Four people are dead and up to 18 people are still unaccounted for. Fire Chief Travis Hots with Snohomish County notes they are not sure how many of the missing are simply out-of-town.

“We’ve got a roadway system that goes along there and we may have people that were actually impacted in their vehicles as they drove up the road there,” he adds.

He says crews tried to get to the area overnight where they thought they heard people yelling for help. “That was not successful; they were not able to get there. The mud was just too thick and deep. They couldn’t hear any signs of life once they got closer to the structure where they thought it was.”

Hots says the mud is so unstable and dangerous they have to use helicopters with thermal imaging.

“We’re searching for people that may have been able to self-extricate themselves and we’ve got experts up in those helicopters, taking a look at the big picture to see what we can do to make it safe so that we can get firefighters and rescue people on the ground,” he says.

Seven people, including a baby, were seriously hurt when the hillside came down yesterday afternoon.

The slide of dirt, trees, rocks and other debris that was at least 135 feet wide and 180 feet deep hit just before 11 a.m.; it destroyed several houses. It’s believed to have been caused by ground water saturation from recent heavy rainfall.

The landslide completely blocked State Route 530 about 88 kilometres north of Seattle.

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