2 children who died were caught in ‘hillside collapse’ along river near Shasta Dam, sheriff says

The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said two children who died Thursday after falling into a river near the Shasta Dam were caught up in a rockslide near a campground.

Sheriff’s deputies and other local enforcement were called just after 9 a.m. Thursday to a campground just north of Shasta Dam, the Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post. A caller, who said they were camping at the Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle Area, said an 8-year-old fled down a hill and hadn’t been spotted for five minutes, according to archived radio dispatches reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.

It’s unclear how the children fell into the water.

Rocks and debris tumbled loose from a hillside, catching the children who fell into the river, deputies said in an update.

A recovery operation arrived to the area of Corum Road to retrieve the children’s bodies with a dive team and Shasta County search and rescue teams, authorities said. The victims’ bodies were recovered, sheriff’s officials said in a 1:30 p.m. update.

The bodies were in rushing water and debris, according to dispatch audio. The Shasta County Coroner’s Office wrote in an email Friday the victims have been identified but their names would not be released publicly.

“The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office and allied agencies extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” sheriff’s deputies said in an updated social media post.

Sheriff’s deputies had cordoned off roads across the dam and reduced water flows to help retrieve the children, according to the post. Roads have since reopened.