Rescue workers have recovered as many as 270 bodies from the mudslide in Sierra Leone’s Regent area, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The search for survivors is still on, even as officials estimate thousands more to be buried in the mud. Around 3,000 people are estimated to have lost their homes, BBC said.
A hillside in Regent, on the outskirts of Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown, had collapsed after a heavy downpour on Monday, burying many houses. The heavy rain had also caused widespread flooding.
“We have a total of 270 corpses, which we are now preparing for burial,” Reuters quoted Freetown mayor Sam Gibson as saying. Other officials have warned that the final toll may be much higher.
President Ernest Bai Koroma declared a national emergency, The Guardian reported. He assured people that the government is “fully engaged with the situation”. He has also urged people around the area to evacuate immediately so that rescue workers can continue to search for any survivors.
Haphazard development has made the country vulnerable to flooding, BBC had reported on Monday. In 2015, 10 people died and thousands were displaced by floods that lashed Freetown during the monsoon.
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