Buried alive

A 14-year-old girl is rescued after an affluent area of California was hit by a mud slide that claimed at least 15 lives. Lauren Cantin told rescuers as they pulled her free: “I thought I was dead for a minute there.” She had been swept away from her home as heavy rain pounded the town of Montecito, in Santa Barbara. Lauren was found trapped after rescuers heard muffled screams. It took six hours to free her. Dave Cantin, her father, and Jack, her brother, were missing. Montecito is a wealthy enclave north-west of Los Angeles that is home to celebrities like Rob Lowe, Ellen Degeneres and Oprah Winfrey, who posted pictures of the disaster on Instagram and said she was “praying for our community”.