Four more bodies found in mudslide hamlet

Rescuers searching with shovels, their bare hands and tiny video cameras dropped into holes found the bodies of a woman and three of her children today, bringing the death toll from a mudslide in a California seaside hamlet to 10.

Fire Captain Danny Rodriguez said the bodies were found as crews worked around the clock in La Conchita for a second straight night, swarming over the debris pile under a clear sky and powerful lights.

The four dead were the wife and three daughters of La Conchita resident Jimmie Wallet who had been among the most visible of the hamlet’s residents since the slide as he frantically searched alongside firefighters for his 37-year-old Mechelle, Hannah, 10, Raven, six, and Paloma, two.

Wallet was out getting ice cream when the slide hit and his 16-year-old daughter was away from home.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger planned to visit the area today.

The days of torrential rain also triggered fatal traffic accidents all across the state, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, imperilled hillside homes and caused flash floods.