WASHINGTON STATE
Mudslide victims remembered
A solemn crowd gathered in Oso, Wash., on Sunday to honor 43 people who lost their lives a year ago in the deadliest landslide in U.S. history.
A moment of silence was observed at 10:37 a.m. at the site on Highway 530.
The names of the dead also were read, one by one, each name followed by the tolling of a bell, the Daily Herald newspaper in Everett reported.
On March 22, 2014, a rain-soaked hillside collapsed suddenly, sending a million tons of sand and soil thundering across a river valley north of Seattle, destroying dozens of homes and entombing 43 people.
The landslide closed Highway 530 for months. State officials closed the highway for a few hours on Sunday to remember the victims. Family members, first responders, and others gathered on the west and east sides of the slide and converged at a grove of 43 cedar trees planted as a memorial to the victims. - AP