11-Year-Old Girl Killed At Verlot Ice Caves

An 11-year-old girl was killed by chunk of falling ice the size of a pickup truck at Big Four Ice Caves in Verlot on Saturday.

KIRO TV's Graham Johnson said the massive chunk of ice struck the child, pinning her to either a rock or a wall of ice.

According to a witness, the girl was sitting on a rock up an incline of the ice cave with her brother when the ice chunk fell. The brother was not hit by the ice.

The witness said the girl was conscious when she was carried down to a safe area, but stopped breathing at some point.

People at the scene performed CPR until the medics were able to get to the location, which took about an hour and a half.

According to the Snohomish County Sheriff's spokesperson, Lt. Bradt, crews rushed toward the scene around around 3 p.m. after they received a 911 call from the Verlot Ranger Station reporting that two people had been injured at or near the Ice Caves off Mountain Loop Highway.

The incident happened in an isolated area, about a mile from the trail head, and witnesses had to run down the mountain to call for help.

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Department called in for a helicopter to assist with the recovery effort.

Hikers are told not to go inside the cave because of danger of falling ice. The girl and her brother did not go inside the cave, and were outside when the ice fell.