Two children die in hill collapse near California Dam

Two children were killed Thursday when a hillside collapsed near a dam in Northern California, authorities said, days after heavy rains lashed the region.

Around 9 a.m., the Shasta County Sheriff’s Department responded to a portion of the Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle Area, near a trail and campground, for a report of rocks and debris broken off the hillside near a drainage pipe , the sheriff’s department said in a statement. The area is about a quarter mile from the Shasta Dam, which spans the Sacramento River just north of Redding, California, according to officials.

The two children, whose names and ages were not released, had fallen from the hill and became trapped in the rubble, the statement said. The sheriff’s office asked the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the dam, to temporarily reduce water releases to assist with search efforts.

The children were found among the rubble and had suffered injuries during the fall, the statement said. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Multiple agencies responded, including the sheriff’s search and rescue team, dive team and boat safety unit. It was unclear how the children ended up at the bottom of the hill, or whether anyone else had been with them. The sheriff’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

The sheriff’s office did not say whether recent rainfall was a factor in the hillside collapse. But the area near the dam received more than four inches of rain on Wednesday during a recent storm. according to the National Weather Servicecombine for more than 8 inches of rain so far this month.

At 600 feet tall, Shasta Dam is one of the tallest in the United States and tames the Sacramento River some 200 miles north of San Francisco. The dam captures Mount Shasta’s annual snowmelt and creates a massive reservoir that anchors California’s irrigation system.