SIERRA LEONE: Landslides claim 179 lives in Freetown

Tragedy struck in the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown when mudslide struck the outskirts of the city burying no less than 179 people alive in the process according to the Vice President of the West African country.

According to Red Cross spokesman, Abu Bakarr Tarawallie the death toll which is put at 179 is expected to increase as police and soldiers were bringing out more bodies from the debris.

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“It is likely that hundreds are lying dead underneath the rubble,” Foh told Reuters at the scene in the mountain town of Regent. He said a number of illegal buildings had been erected in the area.

“The disaster is so serious that I myself feel broken,” he said. “We’re trying to cordon the area. Evacuate the people.”

Standing in the rain, people cried and gestured towards a muddy hillside where dozens of houses once stood, a Reuters witness said even as an official at the morgue at Connaught Hospital in Freetown said it had received 70 bodies.

 

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