Two children died after being caught by a falling mountain in California on Thursday.
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release on social media that its officers responded to a camping area north of Shasta Dam around 9 a.m. local time after receiving a report that two children had “fallen from the camping area into the river.”
Upon arrival, they found that “rocks and debris had broken off the hillside,” and two children were caught in the debris and “fell down the hill.” Officers located the children in the rubble and noted that they had “suffered injuries” during the fall. They were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the press release.
Members of the sheriff’s office search and rescue team, dive team, boating safety unit and other agencies responded to the scene to assist in the recovery of the two children.
Police said their bodies were then transported to the Shasta County Coroner’s Office for “autopsies.” The names of the children are not being released for now.
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The area where the children fell was “downstream” of Shasta Dam, according to police, and the sheriff’s office asked the Bureau of Reclamation to reduce the release of water from the dam to aid in the search and recovery efforts.
Traffic of non-essential vehicles across the dam was also stopped so that agency vehicles could make their way through the area.
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The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office has not released any additional information about how the children may have become involved in the hillside collapse or what caused it. Police said an investigation is underway by agencies that assisted in the search and rescue, including the California Bureau of Land Management, the California Highway Patrol and others.
“All agencies involved extend our deepest condolences to the families,” the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
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Traffic over the dam resumed shortly after 11 a.m. local time, and the area was also reopened.
The incident comes after heavy rain fell in parts of California earlier this week. The Redding and Shasta area has seen more than four inches of rainfall through Wednesday, according to NBC News. However, authorities have not said whether that played a role in the hill’s collapse.
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Source: HIS Education