2 children were killed when a hillside collapsed along a Northern California river

SHASTA LAKE, Calif. — Two children were killed when a hillside collapsed along a river in Northern California, which has been hit by a series of winter storms.

The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the two victims were caught in the debris and fell down the hillside Thursday morning near an off-highway vehicle recreational area downstream from Shasta Dam.

The names of the juveniles were not immediately released.

Numerous first responders including the sheriff's dive team rushed to the scene around 9 a.m. about 200 miles (322 kilometers) north of San Francisco, the statement said.

Dam operators temporarily reduced water releases from the dam, and both victims were found in debris. One may have been partially in the water, but that was uncertain, said sheriff's spokesperson Tim Mapes.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

“It just is an absolutely tragic incident,” Mapes said. “We offer our condolences.”

The Sheriff's Office said the involved agencies are investigating the incident.