More than 30 dead and 14 missing amid landslides and floods

People walk past a section of a highway blocked by a landslide caused by heavy rain in Badulla, Sri Lanka, yesterday

Sri Lanka stopped passenger trains and closed roads in some parts of the country where landslides and floods triggered by heavy rains have caused more than 30 deaths, officials said yesterday.

The government’s disaster management center said 18 of the reported deaths occurred in the tea-growing, mountainous regions of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya in the country’s central province about 300 kilometres east of the capital Colombo.

Another 14 people were missing yesterday due to landslides in the same areas, the center said.

The death toll has risen to 31 since last week, when Sri Lanka began grappling with severe weather. Heavy downpours over the weekend wreaked havoc by flooding homes, fields and roads.

Many reservoirs and rivers are overflowing, which is contributing to roads being blocked. Some key roads connecting the provinces have been closed, officials said.

Authorities stopped trains in some areas in the mountainous region after rocks, muds and trees fell onto tracks and local television showed workers busy removing the debris. In some areas, floods have inundated the tracks.

Local television showed navy vehicles transporting residents and a car being swept away by floodwaters near the eastern town of Ampara about 412 kilometres east of Colombo.

The severe weather has impacted about 4,000 families, the center said. MDT/AP