Searchers recovered two bodies and believe they have located another eight in the debris of the mudslide in the US state of Washington.
The grim discoveries put the official death toll at 16, with the possibility of 24 dead once the other bodies are confirmed.
Rescuers had said that they were likely to find more bodies in the debris field, which covered a neighbourhood of at least 25 homes. They were working from a list of 176 people unaccounted for, though some names were believed to be duplicates.
The village of Oso, north-east of Seattle, was buried in Saturday’s mudslide. Barack Obama asked Americans to send their thoughts and prayers to the state.
Crews were able to get out to the muddy, tree-strewn area after geologists few over in a helicopter and determined it was safe enough for emergency responders and technical rescue personnel to search for possible survivors, said Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots.
US mudslide
"We didn't see or hear any signs of life out there today," he said.
Despite that, Mr Hots said crews were still in a "search and rescue mode. It has not gone to a recovery mode at this time."
"We have this huge square-mile mudflow that's basically like
quicksand, it's extremely fluid," said Mr Hots
The slide wiped through what neighbors described as a former fishing village of small homes - some nearly 100 years old.
Officials described the mudslide as "a big wall of mud and debris." It was reported about 60 feet deep in some areas.
Authorities believe the slide was caused by ground made unstable by recent heavy rainfall.
