500 dead in Sierra Leone mudslides

FREETOWN - The number of bodies recovered after a mudslide and flooding hit Sierra Leone last week has reached 499, Sierra Leonean media reported on Sunday.

Authorities this week buried 461 bodies in quickly-dug graves in the nearby Waterloo cemetery, near the site of a mass burial for victims of the Ebola crisis that killed 4,000 people in the former British colony between 2014 and 2016. Thirty-eight more bodies were found on Sunday.

The Red Cross said on Friday that more than 600 are still missing.

A hillside collapsed in heavy rains in the early hours of Aug 14, killing residents and destroying homes near or on the outskirts of Freetown and leaving more than 2,000 others homeless.

President Ernest Bai Koroma on Aug 15 declared seven days of mourning across the country with immediate effect.

Humanitarian aid is coming in from countries including China, Morocco, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates for people affected by the disaster.

According to the local Chinese embassy, in addition to donations from local Chinese companies and organizations, the Chinese government had decided to provide $1 million in emergency humanitarian aid to the Sierra Leonean government.

Meanwhile, the medical aid team of Chinese People's Liberation Army has been participating in disaster relief through the coordination of the joint medical unit set up by Sierra Leone's armed forces.

The team has treated more than 70 people hit by the disaster, team leader Guo Xuejun said on Sunday.

Infectious diseases

Sierra Leone is a country with high incidence of infectious diseases, and has registered many cases of malaria and intestinal diseases.

The crowdedness at the settlement for disaster-affected residents and the hot and humid environment could increase the possibility of an epidemic outbreak, which usually comes with a large-scale disaster, Guo said.

In order to help forestall such a situation, the team sterilized the peripheral of the settlement and sprayed insecticide to prevent the breeding of vector species. Medical experts also provided medical services to the victims by instructing them how to prevent infectious diseases.

Other groups are also providing clean water as a health crisis looms.

"Water sources have been contaminated" and officials "fear for an outbreak of waterborne diseases", said Saidu Kanu, country director for World Hope International.

Moroccan King Mohammed VI has ordered sending humanitarian aid to Sierra Leone. The aid consisted of 60 tons of food, tents, and medicines for cholera.

Ghana has also mobilized relief items valued at $1 million for disaster victims in Sierra Leone.

The UAE offered emergency relief worth $100,000 to the West African country.

Xinhua - Reuters - Ap

(China Daily 08/22/2017 page12)