Authorities Seek Answers in Fatal Minn. Landslide

May 24--As two families prepared to bury their children, the city of St. Paul searched for the cause of a landslide that turned a fun-filled school field trip to a park into tragedy.

This much seems clear: A rain-soaked Mississippi River bluff 30 to 40 feet high crumbled Wednesday in Lilydale Regional Park, creating the landslide just southwest of downtown St. Paul.

Two fourth-grade boys who were searching for fossils with their St. Louis Park classmates were buried under 4 to 5 feet of soil and rock, authorities said Thursday.

The boys died. One was found almost immediately. The body of the second was recovered Thursday.

Mayor Chris Coleman said the city is indefinitely closing the area of the park where the accident happened until more is understood about what caused it. An outside agency will be asked to investigate.

"We will continue to really try to understand," he said. "It was a tragic day in the city of St. Paul. One that began filled with hope and excitement for these children and one that has forever altered many families in our community."

The body of Haysem Sani, 9, was found Wednesday, and the body of Zack Mohamed Fofana, 10, was recovered the next morning.

Two other children were injured. One boy was buried at least waist-deep and was in serious condition at Regions Hospital with chest injuries. The other child, who managed to escape on his own, was treated for a leg injury at Regions and released.

The students were all fourth-graders from Peter Hobart Elementary School in St. Louis Park.

Lancine Fofana said his son, whom he called Mohamed, had been looking forward to the field trip.

"He came to me and said, 'You know we have a field trip tomorrow? I'm so happy,' " Fofana said.

On Thursday morning, Fofana said he wasn't upset with the school.

"Anything can happen. This is like an accident," he said.

Haysem's family couldn't be reached for comment.

INQUIRY PLANNED

Harvey Thorleifson, director of the Minnesota Geological Survey, one of the organizations examining the landslide site, said it's still unclear why the collapse happened and whether factors such as a week of rainfall exceeding 3.5 inches or manmade disturbances played a role.

"This occurrence is unprecedented," said St. Paul Parks and Recreation Director Mike Hahm.

There was no immediate indication that recent construction in the park was an issue, Coleman said. Much of the work was on the trail system above where the accident occurred, he said.

The city expects to have more information Friday about which outside agency will conduct the review, the mayor's spokesman said. Coleman said he has asked for Minnesota Department of Natural Resources geologists to

assist the effort.

In the past five years, there were no reported accidents or incidents at Lilydale Park that resulted in a claim being filed with the city, Hahm said.

Parks and Recreation allows groups to obtain permits to hunt for fossils in a 35-acre area of the 384-acre park that once housed a brick-making operation, whose mining activity exposed the bluff's fossil-rich bedrock.

The permit process includes liability waivers that say users will "hold harmless the city of St. Paul from any and all claims ... the park user fully acknowledges that some of the conditions and locations within the Lilydale Regional Park area are hazardous to persons or property."

The permit form also says those signing on behalf of a group certify that they have made those conditions known to all participants or their parents or guardians in the case of minors.

Peter Hobart Elementary Principal Shelley Nielsen and the school district's superintendent, Debra Bowers, declined during a brief news conference Thursday to answer questions about whether parents had been notified of potential hazards. Bowers said she had no information on whether anyone called ahead to see if conditions were safe.

Coleman said the permit form language exists because "there are dangers any time you're in a natural area like this," but not "because there was any particular threat or concern."

Fossil hunting in the park has been popular among school groups, with an average of 400 permits issued a year,

Hahm said.

It's common for multiple groups to be there at the same time, and there were two permits issued for Thursday, including the one for the Peter Hobart Elementary group.

The school planned a Friday morning ceremony for the victims. Gov. Mark Dayton was scheduled to attend the 9:45 a.m. event.

THE ACCIDENT

The perilous rescue began about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, when the St. Paul Fire Department received a call reporting a rockslide or landslide, said Assistant Chief Jim Smith.

What had happened was a "sand landslide," which started in a grassy area a ways up the bluff and extended down to the area where the children were searching for fossils, Smith said.

When Smith arrived, he saw 20 to 30 St. Paul police officers, Ramsey County sheriff's deputies, medics and parks workers trying to rescue the children. Officials said the rescuers initially dug with their bare hands.

"It was quite a chaotic scene," Smith said. He had people regroup to work in an "organized and more safe manner," Smith said. "We had a very dangerous situation that was facing all rescuers."

The bluff area that had started collapsing, known as the East Clay Pit, is horseshoe-shaped as a result of the old mining operations. Debris from one side "kept falling into the pit area," Smith said.

As rain fell, there was "copious amounts of water coming down off this shale rock on the south precipice, basically creating a river that we had to divert so we could continue operations," Smith said.

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries. Because conditions were dangerous, officials pulled back the rescuers, Smith said. They then used water from fire hoses to move "the tons and tons of sand out from the fossil pit area" until 9:30 or 10 p.m. Wednesday, he said.

Reconnaissance teams were brought in after that, but it was almost impossible to search for the missing boy because of all the water, Smith said.

"Every time they took a shovel full out, it filled in with sand and water," he said.

On Thursday morning, specially-trained rescuers went to the site.

It was difficult to know where Mohamed Fofana's body was, due to the amount of dirt, rock and sand that had fallen, but they found him within about 30 minutes, Smith said. It took an additional 45 minutes to recovery the boy's body, Smith said.

IN MOURNING

Mohamed's family, including mother Madousu Kanneh and father Lancine Fofana, waited above the scene, in blufftop Cherokee Park, as emergency workers looked for their son. Many held out hope he would be found alive.

When his body was recovered, uncle Mohamed Bah said everyone was disappointed.

"As a true believer, we were expecting a miracle," he said. "But God says it's time for him to go."

Family told stories of the bright, obedient boy who spent hours each weekend at his mosque and played soccer on a St. Louis Park team.

Then came the difficult task of telling Mohamed Fofana's younger brothers, third-grade twins, that their brother wouldn't be coming home again.

The two sunk into their father's arms on the floor of the family's living room.

"He was a good boy," the father said.

After putting their son on the school bus Wednesday morning, his parents wouldn't see him again until rescuers brought his body to the family in Cherokee Park.

His mother kissed the boy and had to be physically supported as she made her way to a car.

Marino Eccher, C.J. Sinner and Frederick Melo contributed to this report, which includes information from the Associated Press.

HOW TO HELP

-- A memorial fund has been set up for the affected students and families. Memorials can be made to the Peter Hobart Student Fund at Citizens Independent Bank, 5000 W. 36th St., St. Louis Park, MN 55416.

-- The PTA at Peter Hobart will auction gift baskets at the school's spring family night. Proceeds will go to the families. To donate, contact Tami Cabrera at yummy@muddypawscheesecake.com.

Copyright 2013 - Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.