Families left reeling after deadly slides
FREETOWN, — Hawa Stevens spoke through tears of the 28 family members she lost after surging mudslides and floodwaters swept through Sierra Leone’s capital, killing hundreds and leaving hundreds more missing as rescue teams fought in vain to save them.
“Mother, father, sisters, brothers, cousins all gone. My life has been shattered . ... Please help me, God,” she sobbed as she waited in a long line in the pouring rain Wednesday outside Freetown’s overwhelmed mortuary to try to identify the corpses of her loved ones.
She was surrounded by hundreds of others, some wearing face masks to try to ward off the smell of death and blue hospital booties over their shoes. Many clutched photos in the desperate hope that they would be among those fortunate enough to find their loved ones and give them a proper burial.
For Stevens, the wait brought only disappointment. “I was only able to identify two of my entire family,” she said in anguish.
More than 300 people were confirmed dead — a third of them children — from the devastating mudslides that hit before dawn on Monday, triggered by days of heavy rain. Red Cross officials estimated 600 others remained missing more than 48 hours after the storm hit while most of the victims slept. Thousands of people lost their homes.
On Wednesday, crews continued the grim work of digging out bodies from the tons of mud and debris that came roaring down the hillsides onto impoverished, low-lying areas of Freetown and surrounding settlements. Many were volunteers who dug with shovels, pickaxes and, at times, only their hands.
At the city’s Connaught Hospital morgue, firefighters, military personnel, police and volunteers tried to help grieving survivors with the difficult process of finding their dead relatives, many too mangled and decomposed to be identified. President Ernest Bai Koroma’s office has said that all unidentified corpses will be given a “dignified burial” in the coming days. He called for seven days of mourning starting Wednesday.
Amid the chaos of rescue efforts, the government has said contingency plans were being put in place to try to stem the outbreak of diseases such as cholera. Alhaji Manika Kamara and Clarence Roy-Macaulay are Associated Press writers.