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| #Freetown mudslide - just a portion of the hillside at Regent but so many homes so many people RIP #SierraLeone |
More than 200 bodies have
been brought to a morgue in Sierra Leone’s capital following heavy flooding and
mudslides, officials said.
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The
mudslides hit homes in the capital Freetown where poor drainage exacerbated the
flooding (Society 4/AP)
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| Ppl in #SierraLeone pls stay safe. I'm seeing a lot of flooding pics on SM and it's scary to drive out there. If u're out already be careful |
Press
Association report continues:
Sinneh
Kamara, a coroner technician at the Connaught Hospital mortuary in Freetown,
told the national broadcaster that the number of corpses brought in has
overwhelmed the facility.
Mr
Kamara also called on the health department to deploy more ambulances, saying
his mortuary only has four.
Footage
on television showed family members digging through mud in a desperate bid to
free their loved ones.
Many
of the impoverished areas of Sierra Leone’s capital are close to sea level and
have poor drainage systems, exacerbating flooding during the West African
country’s rainy season.
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| The flooding in #Freetown has reportedly claimed some lives. Story still unfolding @WADR_News |
More Than 200
Killed In Sierra Leone As Mudslide Sweeps Away Homes
Reuters
reports that a mudslide killed more than 200 people on the outskirts of Sierra
Leone's capital Freetown on Monday, sweeping away homes and leaving residents
desperate for news of missing family members.
The
Red Cross said at least 205 bodies had been taken to the central morgue in
Freetown. Police and military personnel were at the scene in the mountain town
of Regent searching for people trapped in the debris.
Many
people living at the foot of Mount Sugar Loaf were asleep when the mountainside
collapsed, burying dozens of houses, including two-storey buildings, witnesses
said.
Standing
in the rain, residents sobbed as they mourned family members and waited for
news of those missing. Adama Kamara wept as she described a failed attempt to
rescue her 7-week-old child.
"We
were inside when we heard the mudslide approaching. I attempted to grab my baby
but the mud was too fast. She was covered alive," said Kamara, who escaped
with bruises. She said she was not sure what had happened to her husband.
A
man said he had left early in the morning to buy bread. When he returned, his
wife, children, siblings and in-laws were all dead.
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| Ppl in #SierraLeone pls stay safe. I'm seeing a lot of flooding pics on SM and it's scary to drive out there. If u're out already be careful |
The
death toll is expected to rise as more bodies are recovered, Red Cross
spokesman Abu Bakarr Tarawallie said.
Vice
President Victor Foh told Reuters at the scene: "It is likely that
hundreds are lying dead underneath the rubble." He said a number of
illegal buildings had been erected in the area.
"The
disaster is so serious that I myself feel broken," he said. "We're
trying to cordon the area. Evacuate the people."
An
excavator ploughed away at the mountainside and ambulances rushed back and
forth to the city centre with bodies and wounded, but rescue efforts were
hampered by bad roads and the weather, a Reuters witness said.
Community
chief Fatmata Tarawallie said she had started calling for help at 4 a.m. (0400
GMT) but that it did not come soon enough.
"Now
our community has sunk," she said.
Mudslides and floods are fairly common during the rainy season in West Africa, where deforestation and poor town planning has put residents at risk.
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