Two children died after part of a Northern California hillside collapsed near a dam and river Thursday, the Shasta County Sheriff\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The children, described as juveniles, were caught in the rocks and debris that fell down a hillside around 9 a.m., downstream of the Shasta Dam, the office said in a news release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bodies were later recovered, it said. Water was reduced from the dam to lower the level of the river as officials searched for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Shasta County Sheriff\u2019s Office and allied agencies extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims,\u201d the sheriff\u2019s office said in a statement. Their names and ages were not immediately released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials responded to the Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle Area on the report of a rock and debris slide. The Bureau of Land Management, which controls it, describes the area as hilly with overlooks of the Sacramento River. Camping is also allowed in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Shasta Dam that crosses the river is around 600 feet tall. The water held by it forms Shasta Lake, a reservoir north of Redding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is an ongoing investigation into what happened and how the children ended up in the water, the sheriff’s office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sheriff’s office did not say whether rainfall was a factor in the collapse of the hillside, but California has been battered by heavy rains this month that left ground saturated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Redding and the Shasta area had recorded more than 4 inches of rain by Wednesday morning in the most recent storm, the National Weather Service in Sacramento\u2002said in a report of rainfall totals<\/a>. Redding got around 2 inches last week<\/a>, and more than an inch Saturday into Sunday<\/a>, the agency said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n