Mudslide Kills Hundreds In Sierra Leone

No fewer than 300 people have died killed in a mudslide near Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, the AFP reports.

Houses were submerged in mud after a night of heavy rain that reportedly saw a hillside in the Regent area collapse, with roads described by witnesses as being turned into “churning rivers of mud.”

A BBC reporter at the scene says many people may have been asleep when the mudslide occurred.

People were said to be digging through the mud in search of their loved ones, as the bodies were taken to the central morgue in Freetown, the BBC reports.

Sierra Leone’s Vice-President Victor Bockarie Foh told Reuters that it was “likely that hundreds are lying dead”.

“The disaster was so serious that I myself feel broken”. Mr Foh said that the area was being cordoned off as people were being evacuated, including many still feared trapped in their homes.

More than 100 properties had been submerged in the mudslide after a section of Sugar Loaf mountain came down at around 06:00 GMT.

A Sierra Leonean disaster management official, Candy Rogers, said that “over 2,000 people are homeless” as a result of the mudslide in the Regent area.
Mr Rogers said that a huge humanitarian effort will be required to deal with the aftermath of the flooding, according to the AFP.