‘NO SURVIVORS’ IN SIERRA LEONE
>> DAKAR: Rescuers in Sierra Leone’s capital say it is unlikely any of the hundreds of people buried in mudslides last week were still alive, after torrential rains that hit the country’s capital left at least 400 people dead.
A search and rescue mission that had been carried out since heavy rains triggered the collapse of a hillside and caused muddy rivers to flow through the streets of Freetown, the capital, has now all but turned into an effort to recover bodies, emergency responders and aid groups said.
More than 600 people are believed to be missing, with many still trapped under tons of mud that some residents, facing a shortage of heavy equipment, took to digging through with their bare hands. Sierra Leone’s ministry of health and other groups leading the search called for more volunteers to help find victims.
As late as Wednesday, some residents of Freetown had reported getting phone calls and text messages from people trapped under the mud, but efforts to reach them were crimped by continued rainfall.
The severity of the disaster has been illustrated by the need to bury the dead in mass graves, evoking memories of other tragedies in Sierra Leone’s recent history in which victims had to be buried in such a fashion, from the Ebola outbreak to the country’s long civil war.
More than 400 bodies were buried by late Thursday. The government said the death toll was expected to rise. Authorities have also voiced worry that the longer the search takes, the higher the chances that the corpses will become infected.
“Bodies will be disinfected to avoid the spread of any infection that they may likely carry,” said Idalia Amaya, emergency coordinator for the Catholic Relief Service, one of the organisations involved in the search.
Papani Bai-Sesay, head of biodiversity at the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, said as Freetown’s population increased drastically in recent years, the demand for land skyrocketed, spurring residents to cut down forested areas, with environmental groups warning this increased the risk of mudslides.