Washington mudslide: 108 names on list of missing people

At least 108 people are reported missing or unaccounted for after Saturday’s huge landslide in the north-western Washington.

Eight bodies have been recovered so far after the 177ft deep wall of mud swept near the town of Oso, about 55 miles north of Seattle.

Search crews have worked day and night, using helicopters in the dangerous conditions that destroyed 30 homes.

Several people, including an infant, were critically injured.

Snohomish County emergency management director John Pennington said the figure did not necessarily represent the total number of injuries or fatalities.

John Pennington said the list had been consolidated from a number of sources.

Authorities have continued their search-and-rescue operations amid a tangled debris field that Washington Governor Jay Inslee labeled “a square mile of total devastation”.

The landslide cut off the city of Darrington and clogged the north fork of the Stillaguamish River.

This prompted fears of severe flooding downstream if the build-up of water behind the debris breaks through suddenly.

The authorities say the landslide was caused by recent heavy rain.

The area has had problems in the past with unstable land.