Two children died when they were caught in a landslide early Thursday near a Shasta Dam campground, officials confirmed.
The two children were not immediately identified, but Shasta County sheriff’s officials said they were found among the rocks and debris where a hillside had collapsed. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded at 9 a.m. Thursday to the Chappie/Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle Area, a Bureau of Land Management area that includes campgrounds downstream from Shasta Dam, where the two children were reported to have fallen down the hillside as the land collapsed, sending rocks and debris down the hill toward a nearby river.
During the search for the children, the Bureau of Reclamation reduced ongoing water releases from the Shasta Dam, the Sheriff’s Office said.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the hill to collapse, but officials have continued to warn that heavy rainfall can cause landslides, even weeks or months after storms.
The Redding area saw 2 to 8 inches of rain this week, according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento, which followed a wet few weeks that boosted water levels at Shasta Dam and snowpack in the surrounding mountains.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
