Paradise (US), Nov 13: Authorities have reported 13 more fatalities from a blaze in Northern California that destroyed a town, bringing the total death toll so far to 42 and making it the deadliest wildfire in recorded state history.

The dead have been found in burned-out cars, in the smoldering ruins of their homes, or next to their vehicles, apparently overcome by smoke and flames before they could jump in behind the wheel and escape.

In some cases, there were only charred fragments of bone, so small that coroner's investigators used a wire basket to sift and sort them. The search for bodies was continuing.

Hundreds of people were unaccounted for by the sheriff's reckoning, four days after the fire swept over the town of 27,000 with flames so fierce that authorities brought in a mobile DNA lab and forensic anthropologists to help identify the dead.

The statewide death toll from wildfires over the past week has reached 44.

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Paradip (PTI): The Odisha Police on Wednesday beefed up security at port town Paradip after the arrival of a ship with 21 Pakistani crew members on board, officials said.

The ‘MT Siren II’ with a total of 25 crew members reached Paradip port early on Wednesday from South Korea via Singapore, carrying crude oil for Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, they said.

Security arrangements have been tightened by Odisha Marine Police and the CISF after receiving information about the crew members from the Immigration Department, said Marine Police Station inspector in-charge Babita Dehuri.

The Paradip port had been put on high alert in the wake of the military conflict between India and Pakistan.

The ship is anchored at ‘PM berth’, located around 20 km from the shore, and has 11,350 metric tonnes of crude on board, the officials said.

“Orders have also been issued that no crew will be allowed to leave the ship during evacuation of the crude oil,” the police officer said.