Nearly 200 buried alive-Hopes of finding survivors fade

October 30, 2014, 9:36 pm
More than 150 families already
evacuated; President orders
immediate allocation of land

by Maheesha Mudugamuwa

Hopes of finding survivors in the landslide-hit village in Haldummulla in the Badulla District were fading, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said yesterday.

"No survivors have been found so far and I don't think there could be any survivors," Minister Amaraweera told The Island after visiting the place for the second day.

"Bad weather is hampering search and clearing operations; rescuers are digging through mud", he said, adding that there was also a risk in digging the area further as the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) has warned that the adjacent hills may collapse and some cracks on the upper crust of the land had been observed.

"We will keep rescue operations going, but under the prevailing conditions it is very, very bleak," the Minister added.

Amaraweera said, "Currently we are using only one machine at the main disaster site as there is no road to get there, therefore the recovery of bodies, too, is at a slow pace,"

"There may be around 100 people buried. Some children and estate workers were not at home at the time of the disaster."

But, reports released by the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said some 192 people were missing. It has revised down its estimate of the number of people missing in the disaster to 192 from 300.

The Minister said that it was difficult to say immediately how many had perished.

At the disaster site, hundreds of servicemen and government officials resumed search and clearing operations.

Around 818 persons were displaced are currently accommodated at two schools in Haldummulla, it said.

The DMC said, "Some 518 persons from 146 families are put up at the Koslanda Tamil School, while some 300 persons from 97 families are accommodated at the Poonagala Tamil School."

According to the DMC, at least 63 line houses had been completely destroyed.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday visited the landslide affected area and instructed authorities to allocate land for affected people immediately.

According to Nuwara Eliya District Secretary D. P. G. Kumarasiri, a total of 150 families residing in several disaster prone areas in Nuwara Eliya had been evacuated in view of risk of landslide.

He said those families were provided accommodation in several relief camps.

The NBRO extended the landslide alert to Kandy, Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Ratnapura and Kegalle Districts and warned of the possibility of landslides, rock falls and cut slope failures. Landslides are likely to occur in Badulla (Bandarawela, Ella, Passara, Uwaparanagama, Haldummulla, Haputale, and Haliela).

The DMC has requested the public to be on alert along roads such as Kandy-Ragala via Walapane, Nuwara Eliya -Hatton, and Kandy-Badulla via Randenigala).

The NBRO said that if rains continued during next 24 hours landslides were likely to occur along roads in Badulla (Ella-Wellawaya, Haputale-Beragala, Beragala-Wellawaya, Badulla-Spring Valley, Passara-Lunugala, Etampitiya-Welimada, Badulla-Bandarawela and Mahiyangana, Haliela-Welimada) was imminent.

The Meteorology Department said that showers or thundershowers would continue over most parts of the country, particularly during the afternoon and night and heavy rain falls of more than 100mm were also expected.

Meanwhile, the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has requested public to provide any information on vulnerable children among those who are affected.

The hot line 1929 is open to the public to provide information.