Twenty-seven missing in CA mudslide

The scene of Monday’s massive mudslide that buried homes in La Conchita, Calif., is shown in this aerial photo taken Tuesday. La Conchita is a small community of houses situated between the hills south of Santa Barbara, Calif., and the Pacific Ocean. The landslide killed at least four people and injured more than a dozen. As many as 27 more people were unaccounted for despite a massive rescue effort.

LA CONCHITA, Calif. — Using shovels, high-tech cameras and their bare hands, rescuers searched before dawn Wednesday for signs of life — or death — under the enormous mound of mud that killed seven people in this seaside hamlet.

Crews working around the clock for a second straight night swarmed the debris pile under clear skies and powerful klieg lights that made it light as day.

Officials said 13 people, including three children, remained missing after Monday’s mudslide, the deadliest tragedy of several triggered by five days of nearly nonstop rain.

At one point, a group of firefighters and locals who were helping in the effort could be seen carrying a body on a stretcher out of the pile and to a station set up by the county medical examiner. Oxnard Fire Department Battalion Chief Tom Waller said it was a woman, and that searchers believe other bodies were nearby.

In La Conchita, firefighters remained hopeful they might still find at least some people alive, while acknowledging that any survivors would have to be found quickly.

‘‘The energy level is pretty high because there’s a lot of good to be done and time is of the essence,’’ said Dan Horton of the Ventura County Fire Department rescue unit.

(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)