Hundreds dead in Sierra Leonean capital mudslide

By Alpha Kamara

DAKAR, Senegal (AA) - Hundreds of people were killed and many others remain trapped in their homes after a mudslide in Sierra Leonean capital Freetown Monday, according to hospital and relief agency officials.

A hillside in the Regent area collapsed early on Monday following heavy rains, leaving many houses completely covered in mud.

Connaught hospital Mortuary Coroner Sinneh Kamara told national broadcaster SLBC Television that more than two hundred corpses had been collected so far.

“The bodies were collected in areas that experienced flooding and mudslide this morning in the city of Freetown,” Kamara said.

Sierra Leone Red Cross said it was responding to the disaster. “We can confirm that our team on the ground has participated in recovering 312 bodies from the muds,” it said in a statement.

Sierra Leonean Vice President Victor Bockarie Foh said it was "likely that hundreds more are lying dead underneath the rubble".

"The disaster is so serious that I myself feel broken," Foh told national media.

Yasmin Ibrahim, a resident in one of the affected areas called Regent, said she saw three dead bodies of her neighbors being taken to a mortuary by an ambulance.

“I am afraid dozens more are trapped under the rubble,”she added.

In September 2015, a similar disaster in Freetown claimed the lives of nine people and displaced thousands others.