Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Death toll in Washington mudslide hits 39

EVERETT (Washington) — The death toll from the massive mudslide that hit the Washington town of Oso last month has risen to 39, officials said yesterday (April 16).

A road sign advising the closure of Highway 530 stands in view of a flag still at half-staff on April 15, 2014, in Darrington, Washington. Photo: AP

A road sign advising the closure of Highway 530 stands in view of a flag still at half-staff on April 15, 2014, in Darrington, Washington. Photo: AP

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

EVERETT (Washington) — The death toll from the massive mudslide that hit the Washington town of Oso last month has risen to 39, officials said yesterday (April 16).

The Snohomish County medical examiner’s office said it was identifying the three bodies most recently discovered and notifying families. The sheriff’s office said it has removed one name from the missing list, which previously stood at seven.

Officials did not affirm if one of the most recently recovered bodies led to the change in the missing list.

One body was found on Monday and two on Tuesday in the south-east corner of the debris field, where the US Army Corps of Engineers has erected a berm in the past week, said Ms Koshare Eagle, a spokeswoman for the incident management team.

The 914m long berm, made of nearly 20,000 tonnes of rock, gravel and dirt, acts like a levee and allowed standing water to be pumped back into the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River so searchers could enter the area, the corps said.

Searching the debris with dogs and recovering bodies continues to be the main job after the March 22 landslide buried dozens of homes in the community about 88km north-east of Seattle.

Meanwhile, engineers are using GPS to map the area as the state Transportation Department makes plans to clear a mile-long stretch of highway that was covered with mud and trees up to 8m deep.

The slide blocks the direct route between Interstate 5 and the nearby town of Darrington. The Transportation Department held meetings in Darrington and Oso to talk with residents about the highway. A third meeting was scheduled yesterday in Arlington.

Transportation officials have said it might take one to three months to clear the highway, but it may be fall before repairs are made and the highway reopens. AP

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.