A Sri Lankan Army soldier looks for survivors during a search operation in Elangapitiya village at Aranayaka, some 72 km north of Colombo. (Photo: AP)
A Sri Lankan Army soldier looks for survivors during a search operation in Elangapitiya village at Aranayaka, some 72 km north of Colombo. (Photo: AP)
As soldiers searched on Thursday for hundreds of missing people after landslides swallowed three central Sri Lankan villages, family members huddled in crowded shelters waiting for news about the fate of loved ones.
Their wait was likely to be long. Heavy rain halted the search several times during the day, and new thunderous mudslides caused the already-frightened villagers to run from their shelters. Authorities warned that condition was still dangerous and more mud slides were possible.
Two days after the three villages of Siripura, Elangapitiya and Pallebage were hit by torrents of thick, red mud, rescuers had recovered just 18 bodies out of hundreds believed missing. The Sri Lankan Red Cross said at least 220 families were unaccounted for.
Heavy fog, electrical outages and the loose ground complicated the search in Kegalle district, about 72 kilometres north of Colombo.
“We will continue the search tomorrow, but we have to study the situation to make sure it’s safe,” said Army Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe, who was co-ordinating search efforts.
Asked whether rescuers expected to find survivors, Maj. Ranasinghe pointed to an area where 66 houses once stood. “All gone with that landslide,” he said. “So I have my doubts.”
Soldiers carried bodies to a school where families waited for the news of missing loved ones.
The school entrance was decorated with white flags, a symbol of mourning.
Most of the bodies recovered were in Elangapitiya, the village farthest down the hill, as conditions prevented search efforts higher up. Like much of Sri Lanka, the area around the villages had been cleared for agriculture and tea plantations, leaving the countryside exposed.
More than 1,550 people were crowded into nine shelters, where they were being given food, blankets and basic medical treatment, officials said.
