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1st Ld-Writethru: Death toll from Sri Lanka's landslides rises to 16, hundreds missing

Xinhua, May 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

The death toll from a landslide in Sri Lanka's Kegalle District has risen to 13 as rescue teams continued with their search operations on Wednesday, the Disaster Management Center said.

The landslide which occurred on Tuesday evening, has buried three villages in Aranayake as heavy winds and rains continued for over 48 hours in Sri Lanka.

The military and rescue teams are on site continuing with their search rescue missions and officials said that the death toll is expected to rise.

141 people were recued immediately from the landslide but the Sri Lanka Red Cross said that over 200 families were still missing.

Rescue efforts were hampered overnight due to extreme weather conditions.

Police have evacuated residents from nearby villages.

Rescue teams have also recovered three bodies, buried under heavy debris from a landslide in Bulathkohupitiya, around 72 km away from the capital, after a landslide struck the area in the early hours of Wednesday.

13 people are reported to be missing and search operations are ongoing.

The Disaster Management Center said that six rows of houses had been damaged, some of which are completely buried under the debris.

At least 350,000 people have been affected by strong winds and rains which began across the country on Saturday evening, while 140,000 have been moved to temporary camps.

In the latest weather update, the Meteorology Department said that rains would continue in several districts in the country for a further 36 hours but the low pressure area had moved away from the island and rains over the island would gradually reduce in the next few days. Endit