Shelters fill up after deadly Sri Lanka mudslide

Dunya News

Disaster officials estimate that about 100 people were killed Wednesday morning.

KOSLANDA (AP) - Sri Lankan authorities are warning of more landslides at a tea plantation where a deadly torrent of mud swept away scores of homes this week.

Disaster officials estimate that about 100 people were killed Wednesday morning when monsoon rains unleashed a cascade of muddy earth at the Koslanda plantation in Badulla district in central Sri Lanka. Many villagers believe the figure could exceed 200.

One resident, Kannusamy Mahendran, said they have been warned of mudslides several times by the authorities since 2002, but never given an alternative.

He says the government provided housing for only 25 of the 75 families in his neighborhood over the past years, and the rest are now being told to move into nearby schools and temples with the survivors of Wednesday s slide.