Two children were killed when a portion of a Northern California hillside collapsed near a dam and river, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.
The children, identified as juveniles, became entangled in rocks and debris that fell on a hillside downstream of Shasta Dam around 9 a.m., the agency said in a news release.
The body was later recovered. Water from the dam was reduced to lower river levels as authorities searched.
“The Shasta County Sheriff's Office and its affiliated agencies extend our deepest sympathies to the victim's family,” the Shasta County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Their names and ages were not immediately released.
Authorities responded to the Chappie Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle Area for a report of a rock and debris slide. The Bureau of Land Management, which manages the area, describes it as a hilly area overlooking the Sacramento River. Camping is also allowed in this area.
Shasta Dam, which crosses the river, is approximately 600 feet tall. The water stored there forms Lake Shasta, a reservoir north of Redding.
The sheriff's office says an investigation into what happened and how the children ended up in the water is ongoing.
The sheriff's office has not said whether rain was a factor in the hillside collapse, but California has been hit by heavy rains this month, leaving the ground soggy.
More than 4 inches of rain was recorded in the Redding and Shasta areas by Wednesday morning from recent storms, the National Weather Service in Sacramento said in a rainfall total report. Redding grew about two inches last week and more than an inch between Saturday and Sunday, the station said.