At least eight people have died and 18 others are missing following a massive landslide in Washington state. A local fire chief said the accumulation of mud and debris has slowed the attempt to find survivors.

Fire Chief Travis Hots: “Seven people were transported to area hospitals with injuries as a result of this slide. There’s three confirmed fatalities at this time. At this, today’s operational period, our number one priority is responder safety. We’ve got this huge square-mile mud flow up there that is basically like quicksand. It’s extremely fluid. It’s moving. And we suspect that there’s people out there, but it is far too dangerous to get responders out there on that mud flow.”