14 die, 2 missing in Lanka floods
The death toll from floods and mudslides following heavy rains in Sri Lanka rose to 14 with another two missing, officials said on Sunday.
Ten districts on the Indian Ocean island have been under heavy rainfall since last Thursday, including the capital Colombo and suburbs where many houses, paddy fields and roads have been inundated.
Ten people have died in floods while another four lost their lives in mudslides, according to the government’s disaster management centre (DMC).
Among them was a family of four who died when a mound of earth crashed onto their house in Kegalle district, about 85km east of Colombo.
Two others remain missing. Sri Lanka’s navy said it has deployed 33 teams to flooded areas, which so far have rescued 66 people stranded by the floodwaters.
The DMC said the extreme weather has affected some 245,000 people, and over 4,300 remain displaced in emergency shelters. More than 800 houses have been damaged.
The torrential monsoon rains left several districts under water, including Kalutara, Gampaha, Colombo, Ratnapura and Kegalle.
More rains are expected in the coming days, the meteorology department said.
The national building research organisation has issued landslide warnings for six of the 25 administrative districts.