Death Toll From California Wildfires Rises To 63, Over 630 People Missing - Police

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th November, 2018) The US authorities have recovered the remains of seven more victims of the deadly wildfires in the western state of California, bringing the death toll from the blaze to 63, while 631 people are still missing, Butte county Sheriff Kory Honea said.

On Wednesday, the sheriff said that 130 people were missing and 56 people were killed in the fires.

"The number of people who we are still looking for and who are unaccounted for increased to 631. This number has increased by 501 people [since Wednesday] ... Tonight, it is again my very sad duty to report that we have located seven additional human remains ... Of the total number, which is now 63, we have tentative identifications on 53," Honea said at a press conference broadcast on the Butte county Fire Department's Facebook page.

According to the sheriff, since Wednesday, the authorities accounted for 227 people who were believed to have been missing.

California has been struggling with several huge fires, which have already destroyed over 8,000 structures, since last week. One of the blazes, the so-called Camp Fire, has been dubbed by many as the most destructive fire in the state's history.