Colombo, Jun. 3, (dpa/GNA) – At least seven people have been killed in flash floods and landslides in Sri Lanka, authorities said on Sunday.
More than 50,000 people were also displaced after heavy rains continued overnight affecting 13 of the country’s 25 districts, an official from the country’s disaster management centre said.
The victims included three members of the same family who drowned in floodwaters in Avissawella, east of the capital Colombo, and two people who were buried in a landslide in the nearby city of Ratnapura.
Sri Lanka’s security forces have been deployed to assist the affected, including evacuating stranded people.
The South Asian country has been hit by monsoon rains in the past two weeks. The rainfall intensified overnight, resulting in flooding and landslides.
All schools in Sri Lanka are to remain closed on Monday. The last major floods in the country in 2021 killed 14 people.
GNA