South Asia News

Four killed, 800,000 displaced in Sri Lankan floods and earthslides

Jan 9, 2011, 16:48 GMT

Colombo At least four people were killed and nine others missing in an earthslide in central Sri Lanka as floods swept through several parts of the country, displacing more than 800,000 people, officials said Sunday.

Six houses were buried in an earthslide close to the town of Kandy, 117 kilometres east of the capital on Sunday. So far, four bodies had been recovered and five others rescued.

According to information provided by the villagers, there were nine others present at the time of the incident. An army official said rescue efforts were underway.

He said huge rocks had also fallen on the houses, making it difficult to carry out the rescue operations.

Meanwhile, heavy rains continued in the central, eastern and north-central parts of the country on Sunday.

Schools have been closed indefinitely in the eastern Batticaloa district.

The army and the air forces has been called into to help in the rescue operations.

At least 11 persons marooned were rescued by an army helicopter in the area of Batticaloa.

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