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Sierra Leone reels from deadly mudslides

Family members line up in pouring rain to identify loved ones’ remains following mudslides and floods that killed 400.

Workers are seen digging graves at Paloko cemetery in Waterloo, Sierra Leone. [Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters]
Workers are seen digging graves at Paloko cemetery in Waterloo, Sierra Leone. [Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters]
Published On 17 Aug 201717 Aug 2017
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Freetown, Sierra Leone– More than 400 people have died, and 600 are still missing after a mudslide swept away homes on the edge of the capital, Freetown, in one of Africa’s worst flood disasters in living memory.

Crews continued the grim work of extracting bodies from tonnes of debris after fierce storms left impoverished, low-lying areas of Freetown buried.

Volunteers have been digging with pickaxes and, at times, only their hands.

Sierra Leone mudslide: What, where and why?

President Ernest Bai Koroma’s office asked relatives to come to the city’s morgue, saying that all unidentified corpses will be given a “dignified burial” in the coming days. He had called for seven days of mourning starting on Wednesday.

The government of Sierra Leone has pleaded for international assistance as it reels from yet another disaster just a couple of years after the Ebola outbreak left thousands dead in the region.

The threat of further mudslides around Freetown remain. Many areas of the capital are near sea level and have poor drainage systems, which makes flooding worse during the rainy season.

Freetown also is plagued by the unregulated construction of large residential houses in hilltop areas.

Deforestation for firewood and charcoal is another leading contributor to flooding and mudslides.

Family of victims of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent wait to identify their bodies at Connaught hospital morgue in Sierra Leone, Freetown, Wednesday, Aug. 16 , 2017. Family members line up in
Families of victims of the heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent wait to identify their bodies at Connaught Hospital morgue in Sierra Leone. [Manika Kamara/AP Photo]
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Sierra Leone
A mother who lost her son during the mudslides is consoled near the entrance of Connaught Hospital. [Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters]
A man carries an empty coffin at the Paloko cemetery in Waterloo, Sierra Leone August 17, 2017. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A man carries an empty coffin at the Paloko cemetery in Waterloo. [Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters]
Sierra Leone
Over 400 people were killed and more than 2,000 were left homeless by the mudslides, leaving morgues overflowing and residents desperately searching for loved ones. [Saidu Bah/AFP/Getty Images]
Sierra Leone
Family members lined up in the pouring rain to identify their loved ones’ remains following mudslides and floods in the capital. [Manika Kamara/AP Photo]
Sierra Leone
Security forces search for bodies from the scene of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent, just outside of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown. [Manika Kamara/AP Photo]
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Sierra Leone
Members of a burial team ride on an ambulance as they leave the Connaught Hospital morgue in Freetown. Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world and the government has promised relief to more than 2,000 people left homeless. [Saidu Bah/AFP/Getty Images]
Sierra Leone
Survivors of the deadly mudslides in Sierra Leone's capital vividly describe the disaster as President Ernest Bai Koroma said the nation is in a 'state of grief'. [Manika Kamara/AP Photo]
Sierra Leone
Heavy machinery is seen during work on the mudslides in the mountain town of Regent, Sierra Leone. [Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters]


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