Over 200 families feared buried by mudslides in Sri Lanka

Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains buried homes in three villages in the central hills of Sri Lanka, and more than 200 families were missing on Wednesday and feared buried under the mud and debris, the Sri Lankan Red Cross said.

Villagers walk through the site of a landslide at Elangipitiya village in Aranayaka, Sri Lanka May 18, 2016.   [Photo/Agencies]

Sixteen bodies had been recovered and about 180 people rescued from the enormous piles of mud unleashed at about 5 pm local time on Tuesday, according to military spokesman Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweera.

More than 300 soldiers were deployed to search for survivors in the villages of Siripura, Pallebage and Elagipitya in Kegalle district, about 72 kilometers north of the capital of Colombo, Jayaweera said. Heavy fog and continuing rain, along with electricity outages and instability of the ground, were complicating rescue efforts.

Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena visited Arunayake in Kegalle district on Wednesday, meeting with relatives of the victims and vowing to provide the government's immediate relief to those who had been affected.

About 220 families were reported missing on Wednesday, the Sri Lankan Red Cross said.

State broadcaster Rupavahini showed images of huge mounds of earth covering houses, while torrents of muddy water gushed from hilltops above. Villagers said 66 houses had been buried or damaged, according to local journalist Saman Bandara.

More than 1,100 people who survived the disaster were sheltered and being treated for minor injuries at a nearby school and a Buddhist temple, according to government official Mahendra Jagath.

The rains that unleashed the mudslides also caused severe flooding in cities including Colombo, where tens of thousands of homes were inundated. Schools were closed due to the bad weather.

Sri Lanka's disaster management center reported 11 deaths from lightning strikes and smaller landslides elsewhere in the Indian Ocean island nation on Monday and Tuesday. Nearly 135,000 people across the country have been displaced and were being housed in temporary shelters.

Officials warned that more landslides and lightning strikes could occur in the countryside, since more rain was forecast along with rough seas along the coasts.

Mudslides are common during the monsoon season in Sri Lanka, where the countryside has been left exposed by heavy deforestation that cleared land for agriculture.

In December 2014, authorities evacuated more than 60,000 people from thousands of homes damaged or destroyed by floods or landslides.