Death toll rises to 40 with hundreds of people still missing in California Wildfires

Forty people have died and hundreds are still missing in California after six days of wildfires that have devastated swathes of countryside and destroyed thousands of homes. California's Governor said it is one of the greatest tragedies, the state had ever faced. 

More than ten thousand firefighters are battling 16 remaining blazes. Winds of up to 70 km per hour brought them to new towns, forcing many more people to evacuate. One of the



worst-affected areas is the city of Santa Rosa, in the Sonoma wine region, where 3,000 people were evacuated yesterday. 

Governor Jerry Brown said on a visit to the city that the devastation is just unbelievable. It is a horror that no one could have imagined. It is the most lethal outbreak of wildfires in the state's history. More than 100,000 people have been displaced. and whole neighbourhoods have been reduced to ash.