WRANGELL, Alaska (AP) — Searchers looking for three people who remain missing after a massive landslide that killed three others and injured a fourth have changed their strategy from holding an active search to a reactive search that will involve methodically clearing the highway, officials said Thursday.
"During active search periods we have searchers in the field meticulously looking for missing persons," Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson with the Alaska Department of Public Safety, told the Associated Press.
Rescue crews found the body of a girl in an initial search Monday night and the bodies of two adults late Tuesday.
The state transportation department said on social media Wednesday that the process of clearing the highway would only begin once search and rescue efforts were complete.
Saturated soil can give way when gusts blow trees on a slope, said Barrett Salisbury, a geologist with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
Persons:
Austin McDaniel, McDaniel, Mason Villarma, ”, ” Villarma, Aaron Jacobs, Jacobs, Barrett Salisbury, —
Organizations:
Alaska Department of Public Safety, Associated Press, Juneau . Rescue, National Weather Service, Alaska Department of Natural
Locations:
WRANGELL, Alaska, Wrangell, Juneau, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, British