SRI LANKA: Govt appeals for aid as flood deaths exceed 150

Flooding and mudslides have killed at least 151 people in Sri Lanka as emergency teams rushed to distribute aid to another half a million people displaced by the island’s worst flooding in more than a decade. Rescuers continued to pull out more bodies under enormous mudslides on Sunday, and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said 111 […]

Flooding and mudslides have killed at least 151 people in Sri Lanka as emergency teams rushed to distribute aid to another half a million people displaced by the island’s worst flooding in more than a decade.

Rescuers continued to pull out more bodies under enormous mudslides on Sunday, and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said 111 people were still missing.

However, Major-General Sudantha Ranasinghe, who is heading the search and rescue mission, told the AP news agency that he does not expect to find any more survivors.

“The situation is very dire,” Al Jazeera’s Minelle Fernandez, reporting from Matara in southern Sri Lanka, said. “The water levels are receding, but very slowly.”

“The sheer scale and number of landslides as well as flooding around the country have stretched authorities,” she said, adding that entire villages are still under water.