Whoa

[Content Note: Disaster; accident; death; injury. Images at links of disasters.]

In Snohomish County, Washington, a massive landslide has left eight people dead and seven others injured. Searchers continue to look for more than a dozen people who are still unaccounted for.

The Saturday landslide, which encompassed about one square mile, was caused by groundwater saturation tied to heavy rainfall in the area over the past month.

[Ty Trenary, Snohomish County sheriff] said rescue crews were working both sides of the slide. Authorities were also using helicopters to try to identify heat signatures, or people who may have been able to get free, he said.

But such work is complicated.

While there's a tremendous effort to rescue people who may be trapped, Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said Sunday that the rescue operation must be focused on keeping responders safe because the area is highly unstable.

The mud flow is like quicksand, he said. The landslide is 15 feet deep in some places.

...The Snohomish sheriff warned people to stay clear of trestles or bridges anywhere near the Stillaguamish River downstream of the slide.

"Water could break through at any moment," the sheriff's office tweeted.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, a train derailed at O'Hare Airport, injuring 30 people:

A commuter train derailed and hit a platform at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport early Monday, leaving 30 people with non-life-threatening injuries, Chicago police said.

The front of the Chicago Transit Authority train moved beyond the end of the line and jammed onto an escalator beyond that, photos distributed to CNN affiliate WGN show. The first car came to rest about halfway up one of the escalator's handrails.

Investigators don't yet know what caused the derailment, although the train was "apparently traveling at a higher rate of speed than a train would be" while pulling into the station.

My condolences to those who lost loved ones in the landslide, and my sincerest hope that all who were injured in either disaster have access to the care and support they need to heal.