Video shows speed of mudslide in California as rescue teams continue search for missing

The number of people missing since mudslides engulfed a Californian town surged to 48 today as hundreds of rescue workers slogged through knee-deep ooze and used long poles to probe for bodies.

Hundreds of rescue workers slogged through knee-deep ooze and used long poles to probe for bodies as the search dragged on for victims of mudslides which engulfed a Californian town.

Seventeen people were confirmed dead and eight others were still missing in Montecito, officials said.