LOS ANGELES, Jan 11 (AFP) - A massive mudslide smothered a four-block swath of La Conchita, California Monday, killing three people and bringing the death toll from severe snow and rain storms in the area to at least 10, officials said.
Ten other people have been treated for injuries, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
"At approximately 1:22 pm on January 10, 2005, La Conchita experienced a major landslide," the department said in a statement, adding that "a four-block area of approximately 15-20 homes was impacted."
Among those killed, a two-year-old girl died in Palmdale when she fell from her mother's arms while both were being rescued by a helicopter. Their car had been caught in rising flood waters, officials said.
At Elysian Park, near the Los Angeles Dodgers' stadium, a homeless man died and another was injured when a hill collapsed and buried the two in their tent Saturday.
In Malibu, on the coast, a sport utility vehicle skidded off the roadway and into the ocean, killing one and injuring four. On Saturday, authorities found the body of a man who had drowned in the Tijuana River.
About 200 motorists were rescued from the San Bernardino mountains over the weekend and nearly 12,000 people in Los Angeles were without electricity over the weekend, according to authorities.
Nearly 10 centimeters (four inches) of rain soaked downtown Los Angeles over the weekend, while the nearby San Gabriel mountains were flooded by as much as 50 centimeters (20 inches) of rain.
Los Angeles normally gets about 38 centimeters (15 inches) of rain all year, according to the National Weather Service.
01/11/2005 15:15 GMT - AFP