International News

COLOMBO, (APP/AFP): Desperate Sri Lankans clambered onto
rubber dinghies and makeshift rafts Friday to flee their homes in the flooded capital Colombo as fresh downpours elsewhere stalled rescue efforts at disaster zones.
The heaviest rains in a quarter of a century have pounded the island
since last weekend, sparking huge landslides that have buried victims in up to 50 feet (15 metres) of mud.
Officials have urged those living in affected areas to leave
immediately, with more than 60 people known to have died so far and fears that number could spike with many more reported missing.
Housewife Diluka Ishani said she, her husband and two children were
marooned on high ground and were plucked to safety by a navy boat and brought to a nearby school.
“We started moving to higher ground as the water level went up and
then we found we had no other place to go to,” Ishani said. “The navy saved our lives, but we lost all our belongings. Water went above our roof.”
Around 30 families were camped out at the school where the military
were providing food and drinking water.
President Maithripala Sirisena urged citizens to help with caring for
nearly half a million people affected by floods in many parts of the island.
“We have already got some assistance from our friends in the
international community,” he said in a televised address.