Local woman 'seconds from landslide' on Hwy 7

A local family has been caught up in the terrifying ordeal of the landslides on Highway 7 near Agassiz, in the Lower Mainland.

Lake Country’s Kassandra Harder and her uncle Robert Doolan from White Rock, were among up to 275 people stranded on the washed-out highway following devastating landslides Sunday. Initial estimates were that more than 100 vehicles were trapped on either side of the debris fields.

According to Kassandra’s mom Stacy, who has been in communication with her daughter and brother, the two had been stuck in the same spot for 16 hours, but they reported they had been airlifted out by helicopter.

Stacy said her daughter told her they were ‘seconds from the landslide’ when it struck, sweeping three vehicles away in front of them.

They helped save two people whose truck had been buried in the mud and tree debris.

Stacy said the most traumatic part of the whole experience for her daughter and brother had been the sounds of people they could hear shouting and screaming for help down the embankment.