Death toll in California mudslides rises to 15 as rescuers search for survivors

The death toll from mudslides that struck Southern California has climbed to 15 as rescue crews searched for people trapped, injured or dead in the onslaught that smashed homes and swept away cars.

The torrential rainstorm that set off the disaster ended and was no longer a hindrance as searchers made their way across a landscape strewn with boulders and covered in cement-like mud shoulder-high in some places.