Authorities say the number of people missing from Washington state's horrific mudslide last week in the little town of Oso has dropped 'substantially.' (BBC)
"18 people now dead following the tragic mudslide in Washington. and this morning the number of people missing has dramatically dropped from 90 to 30." (Fox News)
While the official death toll has risen to 18, several bodies have yet to be formally identified and authorities say the total body count is believed to be at least 27. (BBC)
And, after so much rain, finding and identifying victims of the mudslide could take awhile, possibly as long as four months. (CBS)
One local director of relief efforts said, "It's a very, very slow process. It was miserable to begin with... it has rained heavily in the last few days, it's made the quicksand even worse..." (CBS)
Search-and-rescuers continued to sift through the wreckage Saturday but stopped for a brief moment, as the small, tightly-knit community of Oso, a town of just 180 people, paid respects to those lost. (Los Angeles Times) (YouTube / CBS)
"For the next 5 minutes please join us in a moment of silence in honor of the victims and loved ones of the Oso landslide." (KOMO)
The Washington Post says March was the wettest month in nearby Seattle’s history and the mudslide is the "state’s deadliest natural disaster since the 1980 Mount St. Helen's volcanic eruption — one of the worst in a century."
