 The miners found that the row of cottages that served as their homes had been devastated and some of their families killed , seemingly at random . One found his family alive and safe in a makeshift hospital , but another emerged to discover his wife and four children had died . Fifteen @-@ year @-@ old <unk> Clark , working a late shift that night in the town 's boarding house , had been given permission to stay overnight for the first time . She was the only member of her family to survive . Her father was working outside the mine when the slide hit , while her mother and six siblings were buried in their home . All 12 men living at the CPR work camp were killed , but 128 more who were scheduled to move into the camp the day before the slide had not arrived — the train that was supposed to take them there from <unk> , British Columbia , failed to pick them up . The Spokane <unk> , a passenger train heading west from <unk> , was saved by CPR <unk> Sid <unk> , one of two men who rushed across the rock @-@ <unk> ground to warn the train that the track had been buried under the slide . Through falling rocks and a dust cloud that impaired his visibility , <unk> ran for 2 kilometres ( 1 @.@ 2 mi ) to warn the oncoming <unk> of the danger . The CPR gave him a letter of commendation and a $ 25 <unk> in recognition of his heroism . 
