90 still missing in Washington mudslide

The number of people still missing in Saturday’s catastrophic mudslide in the US state of Washington has dropped to 90, authorities have said.

The official death toll remained at 24 on Wednesday night, including eight bodies authorities say they have located but been unable to retrieve.

A 177ft (54m) wall of mud buried the town of Oso, north of Seattle.

Workers have been scouring the area for survivors and victims, using search dogs, helicopters and laser imaging.
Few answers

On Wednesday night, Snohomish County Emergency Management Director John Pennington told reporters the number of people unaccounted for had dropped to 90 from 176 the previous day, as dozens of people were found to be alive and well.

Additionally, at least 35 people are listed as having an unknown status, because authorities have been unable to determine whether they were in the area at the time of the mudslide.

“We need to take a step back and look at the magnitude of what happened,” Mr Pennington said.

“The debris field is huge, it’s complex, and it’s dangerous. I don’t think we have a lot of answers. All I can definitely say is that we have a number that is 90 and we’re going to pursue that as much as we can.”