KOSLANDA, SRI LANKA // Hundreds of desperate Sri Lankans clawed through the wreckage of a landslide on Thursday, defying police orders after a top disaster official said there was no chance of finding more survivors.
There were conflicting reports of how many people were missing in the slide, which struck on Wednesday in a high-elevation tea plantation in the island’s central hills.
Mahinda Amaraweera, the disaster management minister, said the number of dead at the Koslanda tea plantation would be fewer than 100. But Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre — which Mr Amaraweera oversees — reported 190 people missing.
Villagers, meanwhile, said the death toll could easily exceed 200.
“I have visited the scene and from what I saw I don’t think there will be any survivors,” Mr Amaraweera said on Thursday. “But that number is less than 100.”
Frustrated relatives who had watched the search from the sidelines tried to follow a politician into the search site but were stopped by police.
However the politician argued with police and took villagers with him who joined hundreds of soldiers who were searching through the mud for survivors.
Also Thursday, president Mahinda Rajapaksa visited the disaster site and spoke to residents who are taking shelter in schools and temples.
Mr Rajapaksa said he ordered officials to expedite rescue and relief for the victims.
Heavy monsoon rains caused the mudslide, which wiped out 120 tea workers’ homes in Badulla district, about 220 kilometres east of Colombo, said Lal Sarath Kumara, an official from the Disaster Management Centre.
A 48-year-old lorry driver who gave his name only as Raja said he lost all five members of his household — his wife, two sons, daughter-in-law and his 6-month-old grandchild.
“I left for work early morning and got a call asking me to rush back because there was an earth slip near my home,” Raja said, weeping. “I came back and there was no trace of my home, everyone was buried.”
A government officer familiar with the tea plantation said he believes 200-250 people may have been buried, based on the number of people usually in the area at the time.
There were many houses, a big Hindu temple, a playground and two milk collection centres where farmers bring their milk for selling.
The tea plantation was one of many in the higher altitudes of Sri Lanka, formerly called Ceylon, one of the world’s leading producers of tea.
Most of Sri Lanka has experienced heavy rain over the past few weeks, and the Disaster Management Centre had issued warnings of mudslides and falling rocks. The monsoon season here runs from October through December.
Vettiyan Yogeswaran, who lives on a part of the tea plantation that was not affected by the landslide, said authorities had warned people that the area was vulnerable to mudslides and they should move.
But he said no housing alternatives were offered.
“There are 50-70 families living in my neighbourhood in the bottom of a mountain. If a mudslide happens we all will be buried,” Mr Yogeswaran said. “We want to leave but we have not been given a proper alternative.”
* Associated Press
