Sri Lankans warned of landslip risk

SRI Lankan authorities have warned of a risk of more landslides at a tea plantation where a deadly torrent of mud swept away scores of homes this week.

But residents say there is no room left at the shelters that are already housing 1,600 victims of the disaster.

Officials estimate at least 100 people were killed on Wednesday when monsoon rains unleashed the cascade of earth at the Koslanda plantation in Badulla district, about 140 miles east of Colombo.

However, local residents say that the death toll could exceed 200.

Kannusamy Mahendran, 34, whose home was still standing in the danger zone, said residents had been warned of mudslides several times since 2002. But he claimed alternative housing had always been the problem.

“Officials come here and ask us to leave, but they don’t tell us where to go,” he said.

However, relief worker Udaya Kumara urged people to go to the camps anyway.

He said: “We can’t give them the comforts of their homes, but we will give them whatever is possible. They must think that life comes first.”