Community gathers to remember victims of mudslide

Sunday, June 1, 2014, 1:39 PM -

A community walk was held on Saturday to remember more than 40 people that died in a landslide back in March.

Nearly 50 homes were engulfed by the slide earlier this year forcing Washington's Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen to declare a state of emergency.

The mudslide was the subject of controversy when it was reported that a 2010 study warned that the location was extremely dangerous.

Now a little more than two months after the event, dozens of people attended a ceremony to commemorate those affected. After a prayer and a moment of silence, the community walked along the State Route 530 which also reopened on Saturday.

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More than 130,000 tons of mud and debris were cleared off the roadway. Motorists travelling through the area were forced to drive on a makeshift access road.

The ceremony takes place just days after another landslide in Colorado left three people missing.