Exit and entry points of interchange at
Biyagama road on Southern expressway
are closed due to flooding [Dinuka
Liyanawatte/Reuters]
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More than 150 people are feared dead
after they were buried under two
landslides in central Sri Lanka, disaster
officials said on Wednesday.
Rescue workers recovered 19 bodies after
the landslides caused by days of heavy
rains, government officials said. About 350
people were plucked to safety during
rescue operations in landslide-affected
areas.
A Sri Lankan Red Cross official who
attended a disaster meeting at the
Aranayaka landslide site early on
Wednesday said it was feared the death
toll was much higher than the official
figures listed so far.
"At that meeting, it was revealed that
around 300-400 people are feared to have
died in the Aranayaka landslide," Neville
Nanayakkara, director general of the Sri
Lanka Red Cross Society, told Reuters news
agency.
Nanayakkara was speaking before other
officials said about 150 people had been
rescued from the Aranayaka area, leaving
fears for the safety of at least another 150
people.
More than 300 soldiers were deployed for
the rescue mission.
About 350,000 people have been forced
from their homes by the flooding.
Source: Agencies
