Death toll in US mudslide rises to 14
Police say 176 people are missing following a mudslide which brought havoc to remote area of Washington state
The death toll from Saturday's mudslide in a
remote village in Washington state has risen from eight to 14, police said.
A further six bodies were pulled out from the mud
by search and rescue crews.
The victims were found by teams scouring the
debris of the mile-wide mudslide at Snohomish County, a remote rural area in
the north west of the US.
Police said that
176 people were still unaccounted for following the slide which brought havoc
to the area.
But the exact death toll remains unclear with
police compiling the list of the missing from an array of sources including
social media.
The confusion has been exacerbated by poor mobile
phone reception in the region, which lies about 50 miles north east of Seattle.
Police also believe that some people could have
been reported missing twice.
Travis Hots, the head of the Snohomish County
fire department, voiced hope that there could be more survivors.
"There may be people that are in their
cars," he said.
But others involved in the search admitted that
the situation was grim.
More than 100 people have been involved in the
frantic rescue efforts, with emergency workers using dogs, hovercraft and helicopters
in the search.
Worst hit were Oso, a settlement of 180, and the
larger town of Darrington, which has a population of 1,350.
The mudslide, which covers an area of around a
square mile, was caused by groundwater saturation after days of heavy rain.
Rescue efforts have also been hampered by fears
of an additional landslide and weather forecasters predicting more rain.
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