Rescue workers have recovered 270 bodies so far from a mudslide on the outskirts of Freetown, the city’s Mayor said on Tuesday.
The Mayor, Sam Gibson, told reporters that rescue operations are ongoing in Regent where the mudslide happened on Monday morning.
Sierra Leone’s Vice-President Victor Foh said on Monday that it was likely that hundreds were lying dead underneath the rubble. ”The disaster is so serious that I myself feel broken,” Foh told Reuters at the scene of the mudslide in the mountain town of Regent.
”We’re trying to cordon (off) the area (and) evacuate the people.”
“Many of our compatriots have lost their lives, many more have been gravely injured and billions of Leones worth of property destroyed in the flooding and landslides that swept across some parts of our city,” President Ernest Koroma said in his speech on Monday.
The mudslide happened in the early hours of Monday in the mountain town of Regent, where dozens of houses were submerged after a night of heavy rain.
A major rescue operation is now underway although emergency workers are struggling to reach the worst-affected areas.
The United Nations office in Sierra Leone said on its Twitter account that it was assessing the damage and preparing a response.
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