Wildfire In California Leaves 71 Dead, More Than 1,000 Unaccounted For; President Trump To Meet Victims Soon

Rescuers combing through the ruins of the fiercest wildfire in California found eight more bodies on Friday, bringing the toll of deaths to 71, while more than 1,000 remain accounted for.

Butte County Sheriff-Coroner Kory L. Honea cautioned that the number of unaccounted for i.e, 1,011 as of Friday night, could include names that are duplicates or have different spelling variations, and that investigations are on to verify the unidentified.

"I cannot let perfection get in the way of progress," Honea said. "It's important for us to get the information out so that we can get started on identifying these unaccounted individuals." reports NBC News.

Thousands of people have been forced to displace as a result of the wildfire and about 52,000 people have been evacuated. The official figure of the evacuated stood at 47,200 as on Friday. The fire has burned 146,000 acres of land and could be controlled to 50 per cent.

The rescuers have been conducting door-to-door and car-to-car searches in the southern area of the evacuation area where there was less damage to allow residents to return to their homes.

President Donald Trump will be travelling to California on Saturday where he will meet victims of the wildfires, the White House confirmed. The President has signed a major disaster and emergency declaration which will be providing federal aid.