West Dorset: Couple buried in landslide for 10 days (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

West Dorset: Couple buried in landslide for 10 days

10:32am Wednesday 18th July 2012 in Lyme Regis

A COUPLE lay buried in their car for 10 days after being caught in a landslide.

Their bodies lay undetected beneath hundreds of tonnes of mud and rubble since July 7.

The woman, named locally as Rosemary Snell, in her 60s, and the man, in his 70s, were found in the car at the entrance to Beaminster Tunnel.

The tunnel section of the A3066 had been closed for the past 10 days since the county was hit by severe flooding.

Dorset Police say authorities examined the scene on July 7 after the landslide took place and there was ‘no indication’ there was a car underneath.

The tunnel was searched by firefighters, police officers and county council engineers and heat-seeking equipment was used.

Mrs Snell, believed to be from Misterton, and the man, from Taunton, were returning home from a meal out in Beaminster on the evening of July 7 when the tunnel partially collapsed.

Several hundred tonnes of mud and rubble were brought down onto the road.

The steps of the missing Somerset couple were traced by Avon and Somerset Police and Dorset Police was alerted that they had been in Beaminster that evening.

Emergency services returned to search the scene on Monday evening and made the horrific discovery.

Two teams of crime scene investigators were called to the scene yesterday along with Dorset Police’s Collision and Investigation Unit.

Firefighters from Bridport Fire Station used hydraulic equipment to free the car, which was buried in several hundred tons of mud and rubble.