Death toll from Chilean mudslide rises to 15

SANTIAGO, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chilean rescue workers on Friday found the body of a young girl nearly a week after a deadly mudslide swept away homes in a small southern village, raising the death toll to 15.

The tragedy in Villa Santa Lucia, a village in the Chilean Lake District, occurred last Saturday after excessive rainfall.

An image of the damage published by Chilean news portal 24 Hours showed a vast swath of mud cutting through the vegetation, and stretching from the top of a mountainside to the bottom.

Officials said they have yet to identify the victim, whose body was unearthed during recovery operations, which have been hampered by unfavourable light, constant rains that threaten to cause more mudslides.

Persistent rains also appear to have been responsible for a large chunk of the Grey Glacier in Chile's southern Patagonian region breaking off from the massive ice field in late November.

Scores more were presumed missing in Villa Santa Lucia, a village of less than 150 residents. Enditem