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Hundreds feared buried in Sri Lanka rubbish dump landslide | Hundreds feared buried in Sri Lanka rubbish dump landslide |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Emergency workers looking for survivors after a massive rubbish dump collapsed in Sri Lanka suspended their search on Saturday night, having already extracted 19 bodies from the rubble and mud. | Emergency workers looking for survivors after a massive rubbish dump collapsed in Sri Lanka suspended their search on Saturday night, having already extracted 19 bodies from the rubble and mud. |
The 90-metre-high dump in the capital Colombo collapsed after flames engulfed it late on Friday, the nation’s New Year’s Day, and witnesses said around 100 houses could have been buried. | The 90-metre-high dump in the capital Colombo collapsed after flames engulfed it late on Friday, the nation’s New Year’s Day, and witnesses said around 100 houses could have been buried. |
The site has been used to dump Colombo’s garbage for the past few years as authorities sought to give the capital a face-lift. But residents living in tiny homes in the area have protested against all the waste being dumped there because of health hazards. | |
The rescue mission will resume at 6am local time on Sunday, according to the military official heading the operation, Sudantha Ranasinghe. | |
“The main obstacle is we don’t have a clear idea of how many people are buried as nobody is claiming that their relatives are missing, unlike on previous occasions,” Ranasinghe said. | “The main obstacle is we don’t have a clear idea of how many people are buried as nobody is claiming that their relatives are missing, unlike on previous occasions,” Ranasinghe said. |
“We don’t have any deadline and we will continue until we clear everything.” | |
The police said they were investigating whether the landslide was natural or man-made. They also said about 145 houses had been damaged. | The police said they were investigating whether the landslide was natural or man-made. They also said about 145 houses had been damaged. |
“We heard a massive sound. It was like thunder. Tiles in our house got cracked. Black water started coming in,” said one survivor who gave his name as Kularathna. | “We heard a massive sound. It was like thunder. Tiles in our house got cracked. Black water started coming in,” said one survivor who gave his name as Kularathna. |
“We tried to get out but we were trapped inside. We shouted for help and were rescued later.“ | “We tried to get out but we were trapped inside. We shouted for help and were rescued later.“ |
Another resident, Mohamed, said three of his neighbours were missing and estimated that more than 100 people could have been buried. | Another resident, Mohamed, said three of his neighbours were missing and estimated that more than 100 people could have been buried. |
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Saturday that the government would soon remove the garbage dump from the area. | |
He also said 625 people whose homes were either destroyed or under threat from the collapse were being housed in nearby schools. |
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