Schools

UPDATE: Two SLP Students Dead, Two Injured in Gravel Slide

The 4th graders from Peter Hobart Elementary School were on a field trip at Lilydale Regional Park Wednesday.

Two St. Louis Park elementary schoolers are dead and another two seriously injured after they were involved in a tragic accident at Lilydale Regional Park in St. Paul on Wednesday, May 22.

The St. Paul Fire Department announced Thursday morning a missing fourth student's body had finally been recovered from the hole. Hazardous conditions at the site made it difficult to find the boy's body throughout Wednesday.

Speaking during a press conference Thursday morning, Assistant St. Paul Fire Chief Jim Smith said workers were able to recover the 10-year-old boy's body from the accident scene. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

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"The family obviously is extremely upset at this present time," Smith said. "They're very grateful to the rescuers, the time and effort the rescuers put in to find their child. But needless to say at this point in time, it's a very, very sad situation for not only the family but their friends who've shown up as well."

The Peter Hobart Elementary School students were part of a 4th grade field trip to the park, according to St. Louis Park Public Schools officials.

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St. Paul Fire Department Public Information Officer Steve Zaccard said four students were walking along a hillside when the ground underneath them simply gave away and came sliding down.

Firefighters and police officers responding to the incident helped one child with minor injuries out of the hole, then used their hands and shovels to dig out another student who was buried up to her waist. 

Crews also observed a hand sticking out from beneath a pile of collapsed earth, Zaccard said. Rescuers were waist-deep in the hole for more than two hours, working to recover the third child, who died as a result of the collapse.

Workers had trouble finding the fourth student Wednesday, as conditions in the rescue area were making it dangerous for workers to continue efforts. One firefighter was knocked unconscious when a falling rock struck him in the head, though Zaccard said he expects him to be fine. Another firefighter sustained a back injury.

Smith said the hardest part of the ordeal was when rescue crews were forced to suspend their search for the missing boy late Wednesday night. 

"We were up against insurmountable odds with the amount of rain and water," he said. "The horseshoe area that we were working in was extremely unstable. We were extremely concerned about the safety of our rescuers with soil, sand and rocks continually falling into the recovery site, so we had to suspend our search last night."

St. Paul Mayor Chis Coleman praised the "unbelievably heroic efforts on the part of first responders."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the children and to our first responders," Coleman said.

Click here to see how the St. Louis Park community is responding to Wednesday's tragic events.

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