B.C. mudslide was fatal, RCMP says, confirming body of woman recovered

VANCOUVER -

A mudslide on a B.C. highway that left motorists stranded also resulted in at least one death, officials say.

The BC RCMP said in a statement Tuesday that a woman's body was recovered from the scene of the slide on Highway 99 between Pemberton and Lillooet.

In a statement, RCMP spokesperson Staff-Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said the body was found Monday by members of Pemberton and Lillooet Search and Rescue.

The SAR crew was taken to the area by helicopter, and managed to extricate the woman's body. Her next of kin have been notified, police said, but she has not been publicly identified.

The RCMP said only that the woman lived in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

Crews are back at the scene Tuesday, searching for signs of people who may have been trapped in the mudslide.

Mounties said at least two people have been reported missing, and there may have been other occupied vehicles that were lost in the slide about nine kilometres north of Pemberton.

The highway is still closed between Lil'wat Place and Seton Lake Road. Initial reports suggested about 50 vehicles were trapped, some of which may have been carried away.

Officers ask anyone who witnessed the slide or has been unable to contact a loved one who they believe was on the highway at that time to contact the RCMP's Pemberton or Lillooet detachments.

Elsewhere in B.C., members of the Canadian Forces were brought in to help rescue drivers stranded by other landslides.

Helicopters were used to ferry 275 people from a site on Highway 7 in the Agassiz area Monday, and rescue efforts resumed the next day. 

Another slide on the same highway left others trapped near Haig, though the exact number of people stuck there is unclear.

Several major routes into and out of the province remained closed Tuesday with no estimated times of re-opening, including several sections of the Trans-Canada Highway. 

The intense fall storm that caused the slides and flooded other areas knocked out power across parts of Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and the Interior.

An entire city was evacuated, some schools were closed two days in a row and railway service has been disrupted in the province.