Hundreds feared buried in Sri Lanka rubbish dump landslide
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 rescue mission will resume at 6am local time, 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.
“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.
“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.“
Another resident, Mohamed, said three of his neighbours were missing and estimated that more than 100 people could have been buried.
Residents of the area, mostly living in shanties, had been demanding the removal of the dump, saying it was causing health problems. The government had said it would remove it soon under an infrastructure plan.
(The Guardian)
Latest Headlines in Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka and United States discuss Economic Support and Reforms April 19, 2024
- Israeli missile strikes Iran amid escalating Middle East tensions April 19, 2024
- President says he will build a Sri Lanka that the youth aspire to April 19, 2024
- NPP presents 7-point pledge on Easter Sunday Attack to Cardinal Ranjith April 18, 2024
- Dialog Axiata to acquire Bharti Airtel’s telecom operations in Sri Lanka April 18, 2024
This is a terrible incident.
Just look at the yahapalana response.
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said that the government has identified two temporary sites to dump garbage. “No more garbage will be dumped at this site and two temporary sites were identified this morning,” Dr. Silva said in a facebook status.
SENIOR MINISTERS DOING FACEBOOK when hundreds have lost their lives.
“It’s ironic that it was only a few weeks back that agreements were signed to begin waste to energy projects to finally deal with this perennial issue,” he said. However, he said that it’s unfortunate that even though payments had been made for those families under risk of landslides to move out, some had not done so. They had even been advised to leave as recently as two days ago.
TOO LATE DR DE SILVA, INNOCENT LIVES HAVE BEEN LOST.
On the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, a coordination committee to management of the situation was established this morning.
HAVING FEASTED ON KOKIS AND KAVUN, NOW THEY ARE SCRATCHING UNDER THE GOLD-TINGED SARONGS.
Ministers Susil Premjayantha, Patali Champika Ranawaka, A H M Fowzie, Dr Harsha de Silva, Sagala Ratnayake, Mohan Lal Grero, MPs S M Marikar and Mujibur Rahman, Army Commander and the IGP and all relevant government officials were present at a meeting held today in this regard.
WHAT A BUNCH OF MONKEYS TO MANAGE THE SITUATION INCLUDING THE ‘YES SIR, YES SIR, IGP.
These stupids are incapable of ruling our land.
There’s a picture of the first family clad in shiny golden clothes boiling the pot of rice at the exact same time this disaster took place, is an indication of where our is at the moment.
The next day, with more than 100 residents under the debris in Meetotumulla, the boss was being anointed by Buddhist monks in the Dalada Maligawa.
The Deputy Boss is in Vietnam enjoying noodle soup while his pal, the Trade Minister, is making underhand deals with the Vietnamese garment industry.
A Minister who is an economist lambasted the residents of Meetotumulla for having lived there in the shadow of the rubbish dump.
Citizens of Sri Lanka, just look where we are; our leaders, they are all the same self seekers sitting atop a mountain of corruption.