Washington state mudslide death toll at 24, expected to rise

By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Search teams picked through mud-caked debris for a fifth day on Wednesday looking for scores of people still missing from a deadly Washington state landslide, while local officials fended off criticism of property development in the area after previous slides. The known death toll stood at 24, with as many as 176 people still unaccounted for near the rural town of Oso, where a rain-soaked hillside collapsed on Saturday, cascaded over a river and engulfed dozens of homes on the opposite bank. "My son's best friend is out there missing," said John Pugh, 47, a National Guardsman who lives in the neighboring village of Darrington.

Continue reading...