AT LEAST 200 DEAD AFTER MUDSLIDES, FLOODS HIT CAPITAL

Mudslides and torrential flooding killed at least 200 people in and around Sierra Leone’s capital early Monday following heavy rains, with many victims trapped in homes buried under tons of mud.

Survivors and volunteers dug through debris at times with their bare hands in a desperate search for missing relatives, and military personnel were deployed in the West African nation.

Initial Red Cross estimates said as many as 3,000 people have been left homeless by the disaster, and the figure is expected to rise.

The mortuary at Connaught Hospital was overwhelmed by the number of dead, and bodies had to be spread out on the floor, said coroner’s technician Sinneh Kamara.

At least 200 bodies had been brought to the facility already, and that toll did not include those buried alive in their homes as they slept. More bodies also were expected to be found as floodwaters receded.

The state broadcaster interrupted regular programming to show scenes of people trying to retrieve the bodies of relatives, and some were shown carrying the dead to the morgue in rice sacks.

“The mudslide swept down from the hills on the outskirts of Freetown early this morning and spared nothing in its path,” said Sasha Ekanayake, the Sierra Leone director for Save the Children. “Houses are buried and entire families are missing, including children.”

SAIDU BAH / AFP / GETTY IMAGES Bystanders look on as floodwaters rage in Freetown on Monday, after landslides struck the Sierra Leone capital.