Death toll in California fire rises to 87

Los Angeles: The death toll in northern California’s so-called “Camp Fire” rose to 87, officials said late Saturday, adding that the blaze was almost fully under control.
Cal Fire, the state fire authority, said in its latest bulletin that the fire – which broke out on November 8 – was 98 percent contained. The office of the Butte County Sheriff said that 249 people remained unaccounted for – a steep drop from 474 missing reported earlier in the day.
It added that only 54 of the fatalities have been identified. More than 153,000 acres have been torched, with nearly 14,000 homes and hundreds of other structures destroyed by the powerful blaze, California’s deadliest and most destructive fire ever.
Previously the death toll had been put at 84. (AFP)