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CNN Live Sunday
11 Now Confirmed Dead In California Mudslides
Aired December 28, 2003 - 18:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll from the California mudslides is rising. The bodies of 11 people have been found so far. Five people are still missing. Officials say there is little hope of finding more survivors.
CNN's Miguel Marquez is in San Bernardino County.
Miguel, there was a news conference a short time ago. Was there any update?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was, and it's in that death toll that you talked about there, Carol. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department announcing that two more adults have been found, a male and a female, this morning. They announced that a seven to 10-year-old girl had been found and another adult male found in the mudslide in the area just north of us, where this water came rushing down the canyon.
It brings us to a total of 11 dead, five missing. And they are sweeping that canyon now with a bit of a sense of urgency using cadaver dogs. No live scent dogs today. And that kind of gives you an idea of where rescuers are with this thing.
They are at the hard part as well. The cadaver dogs apparently aren't getting many hits. So crews are going through my by hand and literally picking through every debris pile that they can find, hoping to find some sign of somebody still trapped in those or the, you know, bodies still trapped in those debris piles, a shoe, a piece of clothing, anything like that to give them a hint as to where people might be. All of that, because rain now again is in the forecast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRACEY MARTINEZ, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We're hoping to find survivors and those that were, unfortunately, not able to survive by this evening, if not by tomorrow, before the next rainstorm comes in. That will definitely hinder our efforts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Now they're expecting more rain tomorrow evening. They say that, you know, to give you an idea of how the rain affected this the last time, four of the victims so far found in this particular mudslide were found near the camp. And five of them, the sheriff's office said this morning, were found about five miles away.
So it just gives you an idea of the enormous area that they have to search for these folks. And they feel that if they can't find the rest of these bodies by tonight and tomorrow, by tomorrow evening, it may be too late and they may have to call off the search altogether - Carol?
LIN: Miguel, I know the focus has been on trying to find people still alive. I'm wondering if the conversation is now turning to liability. Could this have been prevented?
MARQUEZ: You know, there were questions about that during the press conference as we've gone along, but the one thing that becomes very clear is that this was just an enormous tragedy that you can't find anyone to blame. And there's a lot of frustration, I think, on the parts of some people who we talked to out here. But it's one of those things that these people just got caught at the very wrong place at the very wrong time -- Carol?
LIN: All right, thank you very much. Miguel Marquez reporting live in San Bernardino County.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 28, 2003 - 18:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll from the California mudslides is rising. The bodies of 11 people have been found so far. Five people are still missing. Officials say there is little hope of finding more survivors.
CNN's Miguel Marquez is in San Bernardino County.
Miguel, there was a news conference a short time ago. Was there any update?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was, and it's in that death toll that you talked about there, Carol. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department announcing that two more adults have been found, a male and a female, this morning. They announced that a seven to 10-year-old girl had been found and another adult male found in the mudslide in the area just north of us, where this water came rushing down the canyon.
It brings us to a total of 11 dead, five missing. And they are sweeping that canyon now with a bit of a sense of urgency using cadaver dogs. No live scent dogs today. And that kind of gives you an idea of where rescuers are with this thing.
They are at the hard part as well. The cadaver dogs apparently aren't getting many hits. So crews are going through my by hand and literally picking through every debris pile that they can find, hoping to find some sign of somebody still trapped in those or the, you know, bodies still trapped in those debris piles, a shoe, a piece of clothing, anything like that to give them a hint as to where people might be. All of that, because rain now again is in the forecast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRACEY MARTINEZ, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We're hoping to find survivors and those that were, unfortunately, not able to survive by this evening, if not by tomorrow, before the next rainstorm comes in. That will definitely hinder our efforts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Now they're expecting more rain tomorrow evening. They say that, you know, to give you an idea of how the rain affected this the last time, four of the victims so far found in this particular mudslide were found near the camp. And five of them, the sheriff's office said this morning, were found about five miles away.
So it just gives you an idea of the enormous area that they have to search for these folks. And they feel that if they can't find the rest of these bodies by tonight and tomorrow, by tomorrow evening, it may be too late and they may have to call off the search altogether - Carol?
LIN: Miguel, I know the focus has been on trying to find people still alive. I'm wondering if the conversation is now turning to liability. Could this have been prevented?
MARQUEZ: You know, there were questions about that during the press conference as we've gone along, but the one thing that becomes very clear is that this was just an enormous tragedy that you can't find anyone to blame. And there's a lot of frustration, I think, on the parts of some people who we talked to out here. But it's one of those things that these people just got caught at the very wrong place at the very wrong time -- Carol?
LIN: All right, thank you very much. Miguel Marquez reporting live in San Bernardino County.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
