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News > World

California Death Toll Rises to 25 After 14 Charred Bodies Found

  • Firefighters battle the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, California, U.S. November 9, 2018. The fire destroyed dozens of structures, forced thousands of evacuations and closed a major freeway. REUTERS/Eric Thayer.

    Firefighters battle the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, California, U.S. November 9, 2018. The fire destroyed dozens of structures, forced thousands of evacuations and closed a major freeway. REUTERS/Eric Thayer. | Photo: Reuters

Published 11 November 2018
Opinion

The remains of 14 people - burned to death in the Northern Californian town of Paradise, were found late Saturday, increasing the death toll from Thursday's wildfire, to 25.

The burnt remains of 14 more people have been found in the Northern Californian town of Paradise, a mountain community 90 miles north of Sacramento. This takes the death toll of Thursday's wildfire to 25, with 35 more people unaccounted for.

RELATED:

California Wildfires Destroy Hundreds of Homes, Kill Nine

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Scott Maclean said no details were available about the circumstances of the deaths but the victims' badly burned condition would make identification difficult.

The fire destroyed over 6,700 homes and businesses in Paradise, while the rising death toll could make it the most devastating fire-related atrocity in California state since the Griffith Park Fire in 1933 and Tunnel Fire in 1991. 

 A vineyard burns overnight during a wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes in Thousand Oaks
A vineyard burns overnight during a wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes in Thousand Oaks, California, U.S. November 9, 2018. REUTERS/Eric Thayer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

The flames descended on Paradise so fast that many people were forced to abandon their vehicles and run for their lives down the sole road through the mountain town. 

The fire has destroyed at least 177 homes and has now charred more than 83,000 acres as of late Saturday, officials said in a release. "Our firefighters have been facing some extreme, tough fire conditions that they said that they've never seen in their lives," said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby.

The Woolsey Fire broke out on Thursday in Ventura County near Los Angeles and rapidly spread along the 101 Freeway, eventually crossing the Santa Monica Mountains toward Malibu by Saturday.

  

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