Search goes on for mudslide victims

EIGHT STILL MISSING IN TOWN

HUNDREDS of rescue workers slogged through knee-deep mud and used long poles to probe for bodies as the search dragged on for victims of mudslides which engulfed a Californian town.

Seventeen people were confirmed dead and eight others were still missing in Montecito, officials said. Santa Barbara County authorities sent a shudder through the community yesterday when they reported the number of people unaccounted for had surged from 16 to 48.

However, later in the morning they said they had made a clerical error and the actual number of missing was down to eight.

As search dogs clambered on heaps of wood that used to be homes, mud-spattered rescue teams from all over California worked their way through the ruins of Montecito, an enclave of 9,000 people north-west of Los Angeles that is home to celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey.

It was a scene Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown likened to a First World War battlefield.

Overall, 28 people were injured, 12 remained in hospital, and four were in critical condition.

For days, the county had issued repeated warnings about the potential for mudslides. However, officials decided not to use the mobile phone push alert system until 3.50am on Tuesday. Only an estimated 10 to 15 per cent of residents fled when ordered.