Death toll from California wildfires rises to 23

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03:03

The death toll from the California wildfires has risen to 23 as more bodies were recovered, Northern California sheriff said.

A destroyed home is seen as the Woolsey Fire continues to burn in Malibu, California, the US, November 10, 2018. /Reuters Photo

US President Donald Trump put the death toll at 11 on Saturday evening on Twitter, saying "our hearts are with those fighting the fires, the 52,000 who have evacuated, and the families of the 11 who have died."

Screenshot from Donald Trump's official Twitter account

The fire has destroyed more than 6,700 buildings in Paradise – most of them residential. More than 250,000 people have been ordered to evacuate a wide area near the state capital Sacramento and, in southern California, the Hollywood resort town of Malibu.

Businesses continue to burn under a darkened smokey sky in Paradise, north of Sacramento, California, the US, November 09, 2018. /VCG Photo

Trump blamed the Northern California's most destructive fire in at least a century on the "forest management" on Twitter.

Screenshot from Donald Trump's official Twitter account

The fast-moving blaze in the north, which authorities have named the "Camp Fire," broke out early Thursday.

Fanned by strong winds, it has so far scorched 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares) and is 20 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said Saturday.

Abandoned vehicles sit at a car lot in Paradise, north of Sacramento, California, November 9, 2018. /VCG Photo

So far, three of the more than 3,200 firefighters deployed have been injured. They estimate they will need three weeks to fully contain the blaze.

(With inputs from AFP)

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