Sierra Leone begins burials as chance of more mudslides loom

FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE » The government has begun burying the 350 people killed earlier this week in mudslides in Sierra Leone’s capital, and it warned Thursday of new danger from a large crack that has opened on a mountainside where residents were told to evacuate.

Another 600 people remained missing from the mudslides and flooding early Monday, as workers sought to recover more bodies from the thick mud and debris of smashed homes.

The government hired 600 gravediggers for the burials, which are taking place in a cemetery where victims of the 2014-15 Ebola outbreak that killed thousands in the West African nation were laid to rest.

Each person will be buried individually in a dignified manner, said Cornelius Deveaux, deputy minister of information and communications.

A third of the victims are children. Many of the victims were too mangled and decomposed to be identified.

Thousands have lost their homes in impoverished, low-lying areas of Freetown and surrounding communities.

With more rain forecast for the coming week, further mudslides are possible. The Office of National Security said a crack has opened on the side of a mountain where residents were told to evacuate.

The main focus is getting people away from areas still under threat, Zuliatu Cooper, the deputy minister of health and sanitation, said.

“The rains are still pending and there is a possibility that we will have another incident,” he said. “We would rather have structures falling down without people in them.”