COLOMBO, (MILLAT ONLINE/APP/AFP) – The death toll from a
collapsed garbage mountain in Sri Lanka’s capital rose to 11
Saturday, officials said, with disaster destroying 145 homes.
Colombo National hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said
two boys and two girls were among the 11 confirmed killed following
the Friday incident. They were aged between 11 and 15.
Soysa said a total of 21 people were brought to the
hospital from Kolonnawa, where the 300-foot (91-metre) high
rubbish dump crashed on homes.
“We remain on standby, some people who were pulled out of
wrecked homes were brought in overnight,” she told AFP. “Five of
them have succumbed to their injuries.”
Hundreds of troops dug through tonnes of rubbish looking
for survivors while two heavy earth moving machines were
also deployed.
Police said a total of 145 homes, mostly shacks, were
destroyed when a side of the garbage mountain came crashing
down on Friday following heavy rain the previous day and
a fire hours earlier.
Police said 625 people were given temporary shelter at
a government-run school in the area as authorities looked for
alternative accommodation for those living near the dump.
Many residents had evacuated their homes before the
disaster because of the heavy rain.
“The casualties would have been much higher if most
people had not left their homes earlier in the day,” a disaster
management official told reporters at the site.
About 800 tonnes of solid waste is added daily to the
open dump, angering residents who live nearby.