Aranayaka landslide: rescue operations underway
May 18, 2016 08:55 am
Remains of thirteen persons have been recovered from the Aranayaka landslide so far, the police confirmed a short while ago.
However, search operations are still underway with army troops and assistance with the residents in the area.
The landslide was triggered by more than three days of rain and the death toll is yet to be determined, government officials and area residents said.
Torrential rains have forced more than 137,000 people from their homes so far and killed at least 11.
Rohan Dias, a deputy police inspector, has told Reuters rescue operations at the villages in the central district of Kegalle was continuing in the night.
“There were about 150 families in those villages and we don’t know how many survived,” Dias told Reuters.
“There are about 800 people gathered in the nearby temples including the people from the neighbouring villages fearing their villages could also be affected. There are another 400 people in the roads who have come to see their relatives.”
W.M. Abeywickrema, Kegalle district secretary, told a local private channel that around 400 people had been rescued so far.
“I saw a whole rock came down and buried many houses. There are people inside,” one middle-aged woman told the channel.
(With inputs from Reuters)
