Hundreds of people have been killed in a mudslide that occurred in the outskirts of Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown on Monday.
According to the Red Cross atleast 200 have been killed with that figure likely to increase.
The country’s vice President Victor Foh told Reuters that “It is likely that hundreds are lying dead underneath the rubble.”
Foh who was speaking from the scene of the disaster said the mudslide happened in the mountain town of Regent where many unauthorized buildings had been erected.
The vice president who said he was heartbroken revealed that “The disaster is so serious that I myself feel broken.”
Flooding in Freetown, Sierra Leone pic.twitter.com/2g6zEVdkbC
— Francis Reffell (@francisreffell) August 14, 2017
A witness told Reuters that people are devastated by the disaster which has claimed many houses.
Foh said “We’re trying to cordon (off) the area (and) evacuate the people.”
The AFP news agency also reported that at least 180 people have been killed, citing an official at the city’s Connaught Hospital.
“Increasingly frequent deluges disproportionately affect those living in informal settlements” #Freetown #floods https://t.co/vVgG9I8ocX pic.twitter.com/QvGUxrkcYy
— Jamie Hitchen (@jchitchen) August 14, 2017
Dozens of bodies have so far been retrieved and a local Red Cross spokesperson told AFP that the total death toll from flooding in the capital had risen to 312.
Mudslides and floods are fairly common during the rainy season in West Africa.
Source: Africafeeds.com
