Transcripts

text | pdf |

---

CURTIS GILBERT: The part of the park where the landslide happened has been closed ever since, but four days after the incident Mohamed Muse hiked in anyway.

MOHAMED MUSE: I want to know where my son is dead, that's why I went over there.

CURTIS GILBERT: Muse recorded video with his cell phone that day. Saint Paul owns Lilydale, but it's not a manicured city park. More of an urban nature preserve, it encompasses more than 380 acres along the Mississippi River.

The path is steep in places and hugged by trees. Streams trickle down from the bluffs above. At first, Muse isn't sure he's in the right place.

MOHAMED MUSE: Maybe here. I don't know.

CURTIS GILBERT: Then he sees a shovel apparently left behind after the rescue effort.

MOHAMED MUSE: See, look at the shape here?

CURTIS GILBERT: And he knows he's found it. The landslide happened in the park's east clay pit. It's a C-shaped ravine hollowed out of the bluff, like a bite from a cookie. The Twin City Brick Company mined clay from the bluffs up until the 1970s. Muse pans his camera across the sheer cliff and the pile of jagged rocks at its base.

MOHAMED MUSE: This is a dangerous place. How are they going to bring the kids here? Look out here where my son died in this place.

CURTIS GILBERT: Several inches of rain had fallen during the week leading up to the field trip, something geologists say likely contributed to the landslide. Muse's son, Haysem Sani, was killed when mud came pouring down from the top of the bluff 30 to 40 feet above his head. Another boy Mohamed Fofana was also killed. Danielle Meldahl says her son Devin was buried too, but his teacher saved his life.

DANIELLE MELDAHL: The only reason how she found Devin was she saw a little bit of his hair sticking out of the mud.

CURTIS GILBERT: The teacher, Sarah Reichert, rushed to the rescue. She dug through the dirt until Devin could breathe and regained consciousness.

DEVIN MELDAHL: I said, Ms. Reichert, get me out. Ms. Reichert said, I am trying to.

CURTIS GILBERT: The weight of the mud fractured Devin's ribs, left leg, and skull. He spent a week in the hospital and his mom Danielle says he racked up close to $100,000 in bills. Danielle Meldahl says her family doesn't have health insurance and has applied for state medical assistance. She's grateful to Devin's teachers for the emotional support they've given her since the incident, but she wishes they'd told her more about the nature of the park before they took her son there.

DANIELLE MELDAHL: They should have consulted with us and let us know the area is not a very safe area. There's caves. There's cliffs. Are you OK with us taking your child down here? Because I don't think I would have let Devin go if I knew the situation and I didn't.

CURTIS GILBERT: The parents of the two boys who died agree the school should have given them more information. The purpose of the field trip was hunting fossils, which requires a permit from the city of Saint Paul. As part of the online application, the city makes park users acknowledge the, quote, "some of the conditions and locations within the Lilydale Regional Park area are hazardous to persons or property."

Documents show Tara Wetzel, one of the fourth grade teachers at Peter Hobart Elementary School, applied for the permit in April and checked a box agreeing to the city's waiver. The waiver also tells applicants to inform everyone in their tour group about the conditions in the park, including the parents of minor children. But the field trip information sheet the school prepared and sent home to parents didn't mention the potential for danger. It said only that students should be prepared for hiking, climbing, and getting muddy. The sheet also noted the fossil hunt would be held rain or shine unless the forecast included lightning.

Saint Louis Park Public Schools declined to make teachers or administrators available for interviews. The district also rejected an open records request on the grounds that it anticipates it will be sued as a result of the landslide. At this point, no one has filed a lawsuit, but the families say they're exploring their legal options.

Minneapolis attorney Bob King specializes in personal injury law. He's not representing any of the families from Peter Hobart Elementary. But three years ago, he won a settlement from Roseville area schools after a student drowned on a field trip. King says winning a lawsuit against a school can be difficult.

BOB KING: There is no statute or regulation I'm aware of that governs the school's duties with respect to field trips. Rather, if there's a lawsuit, it's going to turn on what a reasonably prudent school would or should have done.

CURTIS GILBERT: Saint Paul issues about 400 permits a year to hunt fossils in Lilydale, many are for school groups. MPR News contacted half a dozen schools that recently took children fossil hunting in Lilydale Regional Park. Of the four that responded, only one Buffalo Community Middle School, produced documents showing it warned parents about the park's hazardous conditions. But a spokeswoman for the school says no parents prevented their children from going on the field trip as a result of the warning. Even though Peter Hobart Elementary didn't alert parents to the potential for danger, fourth-grade parent Kasey Shipp says the school did nothing wrong.

KASEY SHIPP: I think people need to stop pointing fingers and realize that's why they call it an accident.

CURTIS GILBERT: Shipp's daughter, Kylie Furuli wasn't injured in the landslide, but Kylie was there. Shipp's two other children went on the same field trip when they were younger and she hopes future kids get the same opportunity.

KASEY SHIPP: It's hard, but you can't not let them go and experience the great times. And what would life be if you just sat at home? You're not learning if you don't get to go.

CURTIS GILBERT: The parks fossil grounds remain closed pending the outcome of two investigations. The city of Saint Paul has hired an engineering firm to determine what caused the landslide. It's also hired a law firm to look into the incident. Saint Louis Park Public Schools says it's gathering information about what happened at Lilydale too.

In response to an interview request, the district released a statement. It expressed sadness and pledged to support the students, family, and staff affected by the tragedy. With additional reporting from Tricia Volpe, I'm Curtis Gilbert, Minnesota Public Radio News.