Bis zu 100 Leit gefaart gefaang a kanadesche Schlammrutschen

• The landslides in Canada’s British Columbia followed more than a day of torrential rainfall.
• Search and rescue crews were still trying to assess the damage from the landslides on Monday.
• Officials were not yet sure if there were other missing people and vehicles.

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Massive landslides struck Highway 7 near the small town of Agassiz in the south of Canada’s British Columbia province, following more than a day of torrential rainfall. 

At least 100 people were feared to be trapped overnight between debris on a Canadian highway after nonstop rains triggered flooding and mudslides yesterday. Rescue efforts were to begin after daybreak.

According to Canadian emergency rescue officials, there were close to 50 vehicles trapped between two debris fields on the highway in British Columbia, with approximately two to three people in each.

Search and rescue crews were still trying to assess the damage from the landslides on Monday – with the province’s Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) task force revealing that it had not been able to get a complete view of the situation overnight.

“What complicates this situation is we have two slides on Highway 7 and we have people that were trapped in the debris … and some have been rescued,” HUSAR Team Director David Boone said.

He added that the town’s fire department had already extracted at least 12 people who were trapped in their vehicles, while two other individuals were rescued elsewhere.

Noting that officials were not yet sure if there were other missing people and vehicles, Boone said that authorities were “still a bit blind on the full scope of the problem.” In addition to the lack of light, ground stability and issues around power lines are also complicating rescue efforts. Further assessments as to the “best access points” for the team would have to wait till daylight, he added.

According to some phone reports from the drivers, they could “actually hear honking and yelling for help,” suggesting there were “probably about 200, 300 vehicles pulled over, waiting for some kind of update.”