Hundreds Of Motorists Airlifted After Mudslide Traps Cars In British Columbia

Rescue efforts by helicopter are lifting hundreds of people to safety after they were trapped along a southern B.C. highway from landslides caused by extreme weather.

The landslides, which occurred on Sunday on Highway 7 near Agassiz, B.C., about 125 kilometres east of Vancouver, came as communities in southern parts of the province dealt with heavy rainfall.

As many as 275 people, among them 50 children, have been trapped on the stretch of highway since Sunday evening, the City of Vancouver and Canada Task Force 1, the locally based urban search and rescue team, said in a joint release.

It says they were joined by Chilliwack Search and Rescue and a geotechnical engineer to survey the area for anyone who may be trapped in the debris.

Canadian Forces Cormorant helicopters started the first of multiple rescue flights on Monday, transporting evacuees between the slide area and a reception centre in nearby Agassiz.