Word: mudding
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...rumbling in the ground, followed by a cloud of white dust that some mistook for smoke. "I thought it was an earthquake," said one survivor. "The mountainside exploded." Less than a mile north of the village, a pair of earthen dams had suddenly collapsed. An avalanche of water, mud and debris swept through Stava, scarring the mountainsides, destroying three hotels, burying homes and scattering bodies in its path. The deluge, some 100 ft. high and 150 ft. wide, left between 200 and 250 people dead and more than 100 injured...
...died later that day. By week's end 170 bodies had been recovered and at least 50 people were still considered missing. The bodies were taken to a temporary morgue at a schoolhouse in a nearby town, where many had to be hosed down to be cleaned of thick mud. So many were so badly mutilated that only 84 could be identified...
...complex had consisted of two earthen dams that had created wash basins for filtering and extracting fluorite, a mineral used in making glass. Recent heavy thunderstorms were blamed for the immediate collapse of the dams, but some experts alleged that there might have been an excessive buildup of mud in the lakes from the mineral-extraction process. "Nature does not come into the picture," said Renzo Zia, president of the European Federation of Geologists. "Rather, it was lack of foresight...
...huddled together in one corner of the dining room escaped the wall of water. Adolph Tirelli, a member of the Italian customs police, helped rescue one man. "We heard some people crying for help and rushed across the hall, but it was quicksand," he noted. "In the cellar, the mud reached to within four feet of the ceiling. We started digging . with our hands to take him out but unfortunately were not able to pull out any of the other people who were with...
Some along the mountainside survived as the water surged by just below them in the valley. Farmer Valentino Tretter saw the cloud of white dust raised by the torrent and climbed above the valley road to investigate. "Soon after, the mud came across my garden and my barn," he recalled, "I shouted toward the house of the Vinante family, which is a little underneath mine, but in a few moments it was wiped away. Adriano, his wife Pauola and their three children--all are dead...