Senior presumed dead after home 'enveloped' by B.C. landslide

A senior is presumed dead after a home was swept away in a mudslide in the B.C. Interior.

RCMP said the slide hit Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road in Tappen east of Salmon Arm early Saturday morning.

Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said the debris"completely enveloped" one home on Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road, partially damaging others.

The missing man's family said the 76-year-old was last known to be inside the house that was swept up.

RCMP, local fire departments and Shuswap Search and Rescue all responded to the incident.

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District said an assessment was conducted to ensure search and rescuers would be safe at the site.

An evacuation order is in place for 13 properties in the area.

Chief Kyle Schneider with the Tappen Sunnybrae Fire Department said crews were initially called to the sceneat midnight, but had to pull back as conditions worsened.

"It sounded like a freight train coming down the mountain ... We heard trees snapping and it got louder and louder, so we gotout ofthere," he told CBC.

Last month,another house was cut in half in amudslide on the same road.

On Sunday, rescuers from as far away as Vancouver joined in the search for the missing man.

"Given the information confirming that the man was last known to be inside his residence at the time of the slide, it is suspected that the man perished," said Moskaluk.

Search efforts will continue to try and recover the man's body, he added.