Skagway Hit By Big Landslide

SKAGWAY, Alaska - A landslide caused major damage to this historic gold-rush community's waterfront, and a construction worker was missing after being swept into the icy water.

A Coast Guard helicopter and two tugboats searched the harbor for about three hours Thursday night but found no sign of the man.

"They had four or five guys on the bows of the tugs, looking into the water," said Steve Williams, a reporter with KHNS radio. "They came up empty."

Skagway Mayor Stan Selmer said he would ask Gov. Walter Hickel to issue a disaster declaration for the community, which is on the northern end of Lynn Canal in southeastern Alaska, about 100 miles northwest of Juneau.

The slide occurred about 7:30 p.m. Thursday. It wasn't known what caused the earth to give way, creating a 12-foot wave that tore loose a ferry dock and filled the harbor with debris.

"I was on a tug coming over from Haines, and we started hitting debris three or four miles out, a lot of pilings," said Mike Sica, KHNS station manager.

About 70 percent of the city's 800-foot-long railroad dock collapsed. It was being rebuilt, under floodlights, when the accident occurred.

"There was a lot of weight on the dock at the time," Sica said.

Selmer said that no damage assessment was immediately available but that it would reach millions of dollars.

The historic buildings in Skagway, a major tourist attraction, were not affected. But the damaged ferry dock could hamper the visits of the many cruise ships that stop there in summer. The city will mark its centennial in 1998.

Five people were working on the dock when the landslide occurred. All were swept into the water, although four were rescued, the Coast Guard said.

The name of the missing man was being withheld until relatives could be notified.