At least 164 people have been killed and over 100 are missing due to flooding from monsoon rains across southwestern portions of Sri Lanka, according to the country’s Ministry of Disaster Management.
Report dated 29 May 2017 07h00 from Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre:
The severe weather has also displaced nearly half a million people, and triggered landslides throughout the country.
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs activated its Emergency Response Unit and called on the United Nations’ International Search and Rescue Advisory Group, as well as neighboring countries, to help in the recovery effort. The government has deployed 2,000 military personnel to affected areas.
Among the districts most affected was Ratnapura, about 60 miles southeast of Colombo, the nation’s capital.
Video images from the Asiavision Sri Lanka news exchange showed people in streets wading through water that was shoulder-deep in some places. Others showed earthmoving equipment clearing mounds of dirt in areas where landslides had blocked roads.
Photo by Konstantin Zamkov