Five persons were declared dead and 150,000 evacuated Friday as fierce wildfires raged across the western US state of California, with one rapidly spreading blaze threatening the famed resort of Malibu.
The victims died in their vehicles trying to escape a massive late-season inferno in the northern California town of Paradise, where the entire population of 26,000 was ordered to leave, officials said.
“The preliminary investigation revealed that the victims were located in vehicles that were overcome by the Camp Fire,” said a statement by the Butte County Sheriff’s Department, adding that they had yet to be identified.
Dozens of other people were reported missing.
Residents who managed to escape Paradise posted harrowing videos to social media as they drove through tunnels of swirling smoke and orange flames to outrun the wildfire in the Butte County town, north of Sacramento.
The fast-moving…
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