Sierra Leone appeals for help after deadly floods
FREETOWN (AFP) — Sierra Leone’s president issued a desperate appeal for help, a day after flooding ravaged the country’s capital, killing more than 300 people and leaving 700 missing.
President Ernest Bai Koroma fought back tears and said the devastation was “overwhelming us,” as he toured Regent, one of the worst-hit areas.
“Entire communities have been wiped out,” Koroma said on Tuesday. “We need urgent support now.”
As the city began to bury its dead, foreign governments began mobilizing aid, with Israel pledging to provide clean water, medicines, blankets and other essentials.
Heavy rains streaming down a hill in Regent triggered a landslide that engulfed homes three or four storys high, many of them built illegally.
The government of Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, has prom ised relief to more than 3,000 people left homeless, opening an emergency response center in Regent.
The Red Cross said 700 people were still missing.
Regent residents told AFP that boulders and rocks had killed many in their homes, while a hill partially collapsed as floodwaters streamed down the slopes.
One resident, Abubakar Mansaray, said it took just two minutes for the mudslide to suffocate families in the darkness.
“Many unfinished buildings were at the hilltop, with those sprawling shacks all gone,” he told AFP.