Two women and a dog were caught in a landslide on a cliff at Fort Funston Friday afternoon. One woman and the dog were immediately rescued, and the second woman, said to be in her twenties, remains missing.
Update: The missing woman remains unfound as of Sunday morning, and rescuers now fear that her remains could have washed out to sea along with piles of debris on the beach, during multiple high tides since Frida.
The rescue mission became a recovery mission at 6 p.m. Friday night, as CBS SF reports, after the woman was presumed to have spent over three hours underneath the dirt.
San Francisco Fire Department rescuers reportedly added a boat to the search effort Saturday because tidewaters overnight may have washed away the pile of sand the woman was buried in.
The two women were reportedly trying to climb up the sand cliff around 2:30 p.m. Friday when it collapsed, and the rescue operation began at 2:40 p.m.
SF fire crews continue to search for the person believed to be buried under a massive amount of sand at Fort Funston. It's been more than two hours since the slide. One woman was rescued.
— KTVU (@KTVU) February 23, 2019
Before and after photos give an idea of how much sand slid. https://t.co/YilWQh1nh3 pic.twitter.com/15JUwF2veg
#UPDATE SF Fire using a search dog to try and pinpoint the location of woman buried in this landslide at Fort Funston. 2 women were walking along the beach, when the hillside gave way around 3pm. The other woman was able to escape. @nbcbayarea https://t.co/9617tr3e2q pic.twitter.com/Xlgjrs92g8
— Janelle Wang (@janellewang) February 22, 2019
Woman rescued, another person reportedly missing after cliff collapse at Fort Funston https://t.co/xlspJMZtKI pic.twitter.com/zKtyJwYxXU
— SFGate (@SFGate) February 23, 2019
As KTVU reports, 65 workers and several dogs were part of the search effort, and cadaver dogs were called in later in the evening.
San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson Lt. Jonathan Baxter tells the Chronicle that the two women were seen by bystanders about halfway up the 80-foot cliff when the ground gave way. Bystanders were able to quickly find and rescue one woman and the dog, and she was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The search for the second woman resumed Saturday, and Baxter says, "The likelihood that this is going to be a survivable incident is very unlikely."
A combination of factors led to the disastrous cliff collapse on Friday afternoon at San Francisco's Fort Funston -- factors that are intrinsic to this section of the spectacular California coast. https://t.co/U4RJLSEvv8
— KPIX 5 (@KPIXtv) February 23, 2019
BEFORE & AFTER aerial view of the collapsed cliff at fort funston near #sf ocean beach @SFFDPIO @SFPD pic.twitter.com/K891L7KMce
— code1zero (@code1zero) February 23, 2019