At least 312 dead after Sierra Leone mudslide

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

Hundreds of people are thought to have been killed in a mudslide on the outskirts of Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.

A hillside in Regent, a mountainous town 15 miles east of Freetown, collapsed in the early hours of Monday morning after heavy rains, leaving hundreds of people trapped. Morgues in the capital have been overwhelmed with bodies, while relatives have been left to dig through the mud in search of their loved ones’ remains.

Death tolls are unconfirmed, though the International Federation of Red Cross reports that 312 have been killed, and more than 1,000 affected. Disaster officials in Sierra Leone have estimated 2,000 people have been left homeless.

“It is likely that hundreds are lying dead underneath the rubble,” Victor Foh, the country’s vice president, told Reuters at the scene of the mudslide in Regent, adding that a number of buildings had been erected illegally in the area.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/14/deaths-sierra-leone-mudslide-regent

[uppityperson]

1. K&R for people elsewhere in the world

[WinkyDink]

2. Impossible to grasp such a horrific fate.

[Stuart G]

3. Tragic ..very sad..

[Eugene]

4. thousands missing - Sierra Leone mudslide: president calls for urgent help as search continues

Source: The Guardian

Sierra Leone mudslide: president calls for urgent help as search continues

Hundreds feared dead, thousands still missing and many more left homeless after mud engulfs houses near the capital, Freetown

Rebecca Ratcliffe and Cooper Inveen in Freetown
Wednesday 16 August 2017 00.26 BST

Sierra Leone’s president has appealed for urgent help to support the thousands of people affected by a devastating mudslide on the outskirts of the country’s capital.

A national emergency has been declared after the city suffered heavy flooding, thought to be the worst in Africa over the past two decades. Freetown’s mayor, Sam Gibson, said 270 corpses had been recovered and were “being prepared for burial”, while the chief coroner told Reuters that nearly 400 bodies had been found. Estimates of the numbers missing vary: the Red Cross reported that 600 people have not been traced, while the country’s interior minister has said thousands are unaccounted for.

At least a hundred houses were hit when a hillside in Regent, a mountainous town 15 miles east of Freetown, collapsed in the early hours of Monday morning.

Search and rescue efforts have continued throughout Tuesday, hampered by the country’s dangerous terrain and the sheer scale of the tragedy. The mudslide, which trapped residents while they were sleeping, is thought to have travelled for two miles.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/15/sierra-leone-mudslide-flooding-freetown-national-emergency

[Judi Lynn]

5. Overwhelming tragedy. Far too much grief for human beings to bear. n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

6. How tragic.

I think a mudslide must be terrifying.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Sierra Leone prepares for mass funerals after mudslides

Clarence Roy-macaulay, Associated Press
Updated 10:50 am, Wednesday, August 16, 2017

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Sierra Leone's government urged family members to come to the capital's overwhelmed mortuary Wednesday to identify their loved ones' remains as the West African nation prepared to bury hundreds of mudslide and flood victims.

Crews continued the grim work of extracting bodies from tons of debris after fierce storms left impoverished, low-lying areas of Freetown buried in mud from the city's hilltops. Volunteers have been digging with pick axes and, at times, only their hands.
 
More than 300 people are confirmed dead — a third of them children — and Red Cross officials estimate some 600 others remain missing more than 48 hours after the storm hit. Thousands of people have lost their homes.

President Ernest Bai Koroma's office asked relatives to come to the city's morgue, saying that all unidentified corpses will be given a "dignified burial" in the coming days. He had called for seven days of mourning starting on Wednesday.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Sierra-Leone-prepares-for-mass-funerals-after-11822713.php

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R