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Washington Mudslide Death Toll Rises to 39

The death toll from the mudslide in Washington state has risen to 39, officials said Wednesday.
Image: Rescuers watch carefully as an excavator combs through the large debris pile left by a mudslide in Oso.
Rescuers watch carefully as an excavator combs through the large debris pile left by a mudslide in Oso, Washington, April 4, 2014. Rescue and recovery efforts have entered their 14th day on the massive Oso mudslide with 30 confirmed dead and 13 still missing.MAX WHITTAKER / Reuters

Two more bodies have been discovered in the wreckage of the massive mudslide in Washington state, raising the disaster's death toll to 39, officials said Wednesday.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office said it has identified 36 victims from the March 22 landslide that wiped out State Route 530 and devastated the small community of Oso, Wash.

Three victims have yet to be identified, the medical examiner's office said, but officials are "diligently working on identifying the remaining victims."

"We are working closely with the families and extend our most heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends during this difficult time," the medical examiner's office said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee ordered flags at all state facilities to be lowered to half-staff until the end of the day on April 22.

— Elizabeth Chuck