Hundreds Missing In Sri Lanka Mudslide
MEP: More than 170 people are missing in two massive landslides triggered by more than three days of heavy rain in central Sri Lanka.
The Red Cross says more than 200 families are feared buried in the mudslides that hit three villages in central Kegalle district.
Rescue workers recovered 21 bodies on Wednesday bringing the official death toll to 35 while more than 100 other people remained unaccounted for.
According to official figures, at least 32 people have been killed in flooding during three days of torrential rain in Sri Lanka.
More than 300 soldiers were deployed to search for survivors in the villages of Siripura, Pallebage and Elagipitya. Heavy fog and continuing rain, along with electricity outages and the instability of the ground, were complicating rescue efforts.
A total of 1,141 people who escaped the disaster were sheltering and being treated for minor injuries at a nearby school and a Buddhist temple, according to government official Mahendra Jagath.
President Maithripala Sirisena is visiting the Kegalle area to meet victims’ families.
