Weary Mudslide Rescuers Battle Rain, Exhaustion In Quest To Find Bodies, Maybe A Miracle

DARRINGTON, Wash. (AP) — Rescuers in hip waders have been pushing on through rain and exhaustion, searching for more bodies and perhaps a miracle in the pile of mud and debris that laid waste to the rural town of Oso in Washington state.

At least 26 people are known to have been killed in Saturday's mudslide. Nine of those bodies have been located but not recovered, while the list of those unaccounted for still totals 90. Officials are warning the community that a higher toll will be announced Friday morning.

The official death toll rose to 17 late Thursday as the Snohomish (snoh-HOH'-mish) County medical examiner's office announced it had received the body of an infant recovered earlier in the day.

At this point, digging is the only method being used to narrow the list of the missing. Emergency officials say they have stopped conducting door-to-door searches or calling relatives in hopes of locating people who haven't checked in yet.