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No Injuries After Mudslide Prompts Road Closure

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A mudslide on a Mississippi River bluff just below a Minneapolis hospital narrowly missed two motorists on a nearby roadway.

Minneapolis firefighters say no one was injured Thursday night and the hospital on the edge of the mudslide is stable.

University of Minnesota Medical Center spokeswoman Jennifer Amundson says engineers have inspected the two hospital buildings and determined they are not structurally compromised.

A 100-yard swath of bluff soil, including trees and brush, slid to a parkway below, leaving 6 to 8 feet of mud on the West River Parkway. Pieces of the road also landed in the river.

Minneapolis Assistant Fire Chief Charles Brynteson says two motorists on the parkway accelerated to safety as mud and debris were falling. Brynteson says it was a close call because they very easily could have been trapped.

Initial reports to dispatchers said some people might have been trapped, but that turned out not to be the case.

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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