California wildfire leaves 9 dead and 25 missing.

Reuters At least nine people have died and about 25 are still missing after a massive fire broke out in a warehouse in Oakland, California, during a party Friday night, the city's fire chief said.

Firefighters were still trying to determine how the fire started at 23:30 p.m. Friday (local time), said Chief Teresa Deloach-Reed.

The roof of the two-story warehouse in the Fruitvale district collapsed during the fire, complicating efforts to recover bodies, she said at a press conference.

Authorities did not know if any of the 25 missing people were among the nine confirmed victims.

"The vast majority of this building has not yet been searched," said Deloach-Reed.

"We hope that the number nine is what it is and that there won't be any more," she added, referring to the number of known deaths.

Deloach-Reed said some of the missing people may have gone to the hospital or somewhere else. She said she didn't know how many people were at the party.

A Facebook event page showed that 176 people planned to attend the party. The page also listed another 355 as interested in going.