71 dead, more than 1,000 missing in California fire
CHICO(United
States): President Donald Trump was to arrive on Saturday in California where more than 1,000 people are listed missing in the worst-ever wildfire to hit the wealthiest US state, which is at the forefront of resistance to Trump’s environmental and other policies.
The deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history, the so-called Camp Fire, has now claimed 71 lives after authorities found eight additional sets of human remains. The fire has devoured an area roughly the size of Chicago.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told reporters the number of people unaccounted for almost doubled from 631 to 1,011 in 24 hours as authorities received more reports of people missing, and as emergency calls made when the fire broke out are reviewed.
“I want you to understand that this is a dynamic list,” he told reporters. He said that on a positive note, 329 people who had been listed as missing since the fire broke out had so far been accounted for.
“The information I am providing you is raw data and we find there is the likely possibility that the list contains duplicate names,” he said, adding that some people who had escaped could be unaware they were listed as missing.
The inferno erupted on November 8, laying waste to the town of Paradise at the northern foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and sending thousands fleeing.
Full story @ timesofoman.com/world