1 Dead After Landslide Rips Through Coastal Alaska Community

One person is dead and several others injured following a landslide that swept through a neighborhood in southeast Alaska on Sunday, authorities said.

The landslide tore into homes and businesses in the coastal city of Ketchikan around 4 p.m., the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and City of Ketchikan said in a joint statement.

Three people were transported to a nearby medical center. Of those individuals, two were admitted and one was treated and released. Everyone has been accounted for as of early Monday, authorities said.

“In my 65 years in Ketchikan, I have never seen a slide of this magnitude,” Ketchikan Mayor Dave Kiffer said in a statement. “The loss of life that we have encountered is heartbreaking, and my heart goes out to those who lost their homes.”

A mandatory evacuation order has been issued for homes in the surrounding area amid warnings that there could be secondary landslides, authorities said.

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