Two people were killed when a huge boulder crashed into a home during a Thursday rockslide. The rockslide occurred on Route 9 near the west end of Rockville, Utah at around 5 p.m. It sent a boulder right into the home, said the police chief of Springdale.
The chief said it was hard to describe but the boulder was larger than the two-story home it slammed into.
Officials located the two lifeless bodies inside the home amongst the rubble, but they were not to be removed to daylight on Friday due to safety concerns in the area. As of late Thursday night, the two still had not been identified.
Officers on the scene believe the massive boulder became loose then headed down the mountainside as ice and frost surrounding it started to thaw out on Thursday morning.
The huge boulder traveled close to a quarter mile down the side of the mountain, said officials, hitting the home that was located only 50 yards from state route 9. Another boulder that was large, but not close to the size of the first landed in the house’s front yard and others could be seen scattered about surrounding the home.
Other homes that were located nearby were not hit, though officials did ask the resident to make a voluntary evacuation due to concerns over a possible second slide, said the police chief. However, on Thursday night, the residents were all back in their homes.
No boulders or rocks blocked route 9, but traffic was immediately backed up after the slide due to a large dust cloud that suffocated the area shortly after the home was smashed into by the boulder.
The Springdale police chief said that when his officer arrived there was just one big dust cloud and traffic was at a standstill, not knowing what had taken place.
Traffic was reduced to just one lane after a number of emergency vehicles started to arrive on scene. By 8 pm on Thursday, traffic was back to normal.
