More than 300 missing after massive landslide in Up-Country

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 October 2014, 23:14 GMT]
In one of the biggest landslide in the island, more than 66 Up-Country Tamil families are feared dead on Wednesday in Meeriyabedda in Badulla District in the Up Country. While official reports said 14 dead bodies were recovered, unconfirmed reports put the figure at 30. Tamil relief workers in the Up Country said more than 300 people are feared missing and there is no hope for survivors. While a section of the people have got assistance, people who have sought security at Poonagala Tamil School are yet to receive proper assistance, reports reaching Colombo said Wednesday night.

Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) was mobilising assistance to people who have moved into Koslanda Tamil Maha Viththiyaalayam, the reports from Badulla said.

66 apartments in 6 lines of houses have been completely submerged in the landslide that took place between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m.

Several school children survived the catastrophe as they had gone to schools, the reports further said. Many children have become orphaned, Tamil humanitarian workers who rushed to the plantation told TamilNet.

95% of the affected people are Upcountry Tamils employed in the tea plantations, they further said.

Chronology: