Seventeen killed by mudflows California

los angeles - The devastating mudslides caused by rainfall in southern California have claimed seventeen lives. According to the sheriff of Santa Barbara County, at least seventeen people are missing. Because of the masses of debris and mud that came down from the slopes on Tuesday, a hundred houses were destroyed.

The dead still have to be identified, but according to the fire department, minors have also become victims of the natural violence. Because a large part of the area is still inaccessible, the authorities fear more deaths.

Especially the town of Montecito, north of Los Angeles, was hit hard. Rescue workers search for survivors. The sheriff described the situation as 'a battlefield from the First World War. '

The same region was recently plagued by wildfires. Much vegetation has thereby been lost.