'It was really surreal': Vancouver couple narrowly escapes deadly Lillooet mudslide
With the main highways from the B.C. Interior to Vancouver closed, David and Melissa Medeiros decided to take their chances with Highway 99 through Pemberton to get home from Kamloops on Monday.
When traffic stopped for a small mudslide just south of Lillooet, David got out to take a look at the blockage while Melissa remained in the car.
“I hear this cracking sound and I turn around and the forest is just moving, coming down maybe 30 feet behind me,” said Melissa, describing a massive mudslide that came crashing onto the highway. Her husband was nowhere in sight.
“I heard like a thunderous sound. And I saw the trees sliding down the mountain and I looked at it and I was kind of frozen for a minute, and then I heard other people start yelling and then it just clicked that I don't know where my wife is,” said David.
He ran back to where he’d left the car, and saw Melissa speed away from the slide, honking her horn. They narrowly escaped the torrent of mud and debris, but saw several others cars had been caught up in the slide.
“There was an off-duty firefighter who really got everyone organized and got everyone gathering chainsaws and shovels and ropes and doing everything they could do go in and help get these people out of their vehicles,” said Melissa, who watched as motorists and passengers covered in blood and mud stumbled out of their wrecked cars.
The Medeiroses and other motorists were stuck on the road for hours, wondering what could happen next.
“We were trapped with all these people, we didn’t know when we would get out, we didn’t know if another mudslide was going to happen. It was still raining like crazy, and there was the river on one side that was filling up,” said Melissa.
The Vancouver couple eventually got to a hotel in Pemberton. But not everyone made it out alive. The body of a woman from the Lower Mainland has been found in the slide, and crews are still searching for other possible victims.
“Deepest condolences to the family, a simple drive home gone bad for sure. What more can you say, it’s a tragic event,” said Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman.
Highway 99 remains closed between Lillooet and Pemberton. The Medeiroses know they were seconds away from being swept up in the slide, and not making it home to their loved ones.
“I’m very happy, very lucky to be alive,” said David. “Very happy and lucky my wife is still here and wasn’t caught in it.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
Ippei Mizuhara, ex-interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, pleads guilty in sports betting case
The former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud Wednesday in a sports betting case where prosecutors allege he stole US$16 million from the Japanese baseball player to pay off debts.
Steve Albini, legendary producer for Nirvana, the Pixies and an alternative rock pioneer, dies at 61
Steve Albini, an alternative rock pioneer and legendary producer who shaped the musical landscape through his work with Nirvana, the Pixies, PJ Harvey and more, has died. He was 61.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his head more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
Watch fighter jet pilots pummel fake enemy ship off coast of Philippines
The United States and Philippines held annual joint-training drills just off the Southeast Asian nation’s western coast on Wednesday. Military forces sunk a 'mock' enemy warship – the BRP Lake Caliraya, which was a decommissioned tanker made in China.
'Summer of discontent': Federal unions vow to fight new 3-day a week office mandate
Federal unions are launching legal challenges and encouraging public sector workers to file "tens of thousands" of grievances over the new mandate requiring federal workers to return to the office at least three days a week in the fall.