Terror of Sri Lankan landslides: 'All I could do was scream'

ELANGAPITIYA VILLAGE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Heavy rains Thursday pounded the central Sri Lankan region where at least three villages have already been swallowed by mountains of mud, forcing soldiers and police to suspend rescue work. At least 18 people are known to have been killed and hundreds are reported missing in the landslides so far.

Rescue work had resumed early in morning before fresh rains began in the area. Military spokesman Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweera told reporters in the capital, Colombo, that the army was assessing the situation and would deploy more troops in the worst-hit Kegalle district if needed.

Heavy rains have lashed across the island nation for several days and officials said the extent of the tragedy was still unclear. The Sri Lankan Red Cross said at least 220 families were unaccounted for.

Sri Lankan landslide survivors try to salvage their belongings buried in the mud after a landslide in Elangipitiya village in Aranayaka about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Soldiers and police used sticks and bare hands Wednesday to dig through enormous piles of mud covering houses in three villages hit by massive landslides in central Sri Lanka, with hundreds of families reported missing. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

"The task is to figure out what happened to them," the Red Cross said in a statement, noting that some people may have left after local officials warned earlier this week of possible landslides.

Jayaweera said that the army had so far rescued 156 people trapped by landslides and more than 1,550 people are being sheltered in seven shelters.

Heavy fog, rain, electrical outages and the loose ground have made it difficult to search for survivors. Officials have also warned that, with rain still falling, more landslides could occur in the area.

Villagers said torrents of muddy water, tree branches and debris came crashing down around their homes Tuesday in the three villages, located at different heights on the same hill in Kegalle district, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north of Colombo.

"I heard a huge sound like a plane crashing into the Earth," said 52-year-old A.G. Kamala, who had just returned to her house in one of the villages, Siripura, when the landslides hit. "I opened my door. I could not believe my eyes, as I saw something like a huge fireball rolling down the mountain."

Near the village of Elangapitiya — furthest down the hill — soldiers on Wednesday carried bodies to a school, where families waited for news of missing loved ones.

Farmer Hewapelige Lal said he had identified the body of his nephew, but that 18 other family members were possibly buried under the mud. He and his wife had left their home to take fruit to a daughter who lived elsewhere, but at some point his wife turned back.

"That was the last time I saw her," Lal said, sobbing. When he heard of the landslide, he rushed home but found the area covered with thick, heavy mud. "All I could do was scream."

Officials could not give the populations of the villages of Siripura, Elangapitiya or Pallebage, but such villages typically include 1,000 to 1,500 residents.

In Elangapitiya alone, where 14 bodies were recovered Wednesday, about 130 people were still missing, according to Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe, who was coordinating rescue efforts.

Hundreds of stunned villagers took shelter in four temporary camps set up in schools and a Buddhist temple, where they were being given food, blankets and basic medical treatment.

At the Viyaneliya Temple, about 300 villagers shared a meal of brown bread and curried lentils. Local officials interviewed each one to learn about missing family members and possessions buried under the mud.

Local media said President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the disaster sites earlier Wednesday.

In Siripura, 70-year-old A.G. Alice said all nine of her children were unaccounted for.

"I don't know what happened to me" after the landslides swept down, she said.

A man said his wife, mother-in-law, son and daughter-in-law were all in his house in Siripura when the landslides hit. "I still can't locate my family," M.W. Dharmadasa said. "I still don't know what happened to them."

The same rains that unleashed the mudslides also caused severe flooding in cities including Colombo, the capital, where tens of thousands of homes were at least partially inundated. Schools were closed due to the bad weather.

Sri Lanka's disaster management center Thursday reported 38 deaths from lightning strikes and smaller landslides elsewhere in the country earlier this week. Nearly 135,000 people have been displaced and are being housed in temporary shelters.

Mudslides are common during the monsoon season. Much of Sri Lanka has been with heavy deforested to clear land for agriculture, leaving the countryside exposed.

During heavy rains in December 2014, authorities evacuated more than 60,000 people from thousands of homes damaged or destroyed by floods or landslides. Two months before that, dozens of tea plantation workers were killed when mudslides buried their hillside homes.

___

AP writer Bharatha Mallawarachi in Colombo contributed to this report.

Sri Lankan onlookers watch a minor land slide following heavy rains in Elangipitiya village in Aranayaka about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Soldiers and police used sticks and bare hands Wednesday to dig through enormous piles of mud covering houses in three villages hit by massive landslides in central Sri Lanka, with hundreds of families reported missing. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

An auto rickshaw, a three wheeler used for transport is buried in the mud, behind as survivors and others walk on the mud after a landslide in Elangipitiya village in Aranayaka about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Soldiers and police used sticks and bare hands Wednesday to dig through enormous piles of mud covering houses in three villages hit by massive landslides in central Sri Lanka, with hundreds of families reported missing. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

People run for safety during a minor land slide following heavy rains in Elangipitiya village in Aranayaka about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Soldiers and police used sticks and bare hands Wednesday to dig through enormous piles of mud covering houses in three villages hit by massive landslides in central Sri Lanka, with hundreds of families reported missing. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lankans walk on mud after a massive landslide at Aranayaka in Kegalle District, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains crashed down onto three villages in the central hills of Sri Lanka, and several families were missing Wednesday and feared buried under the mud and debris, the Sri Lankan Red Cross said. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

A Sri Lankan army soldier leaves the area of a landslide after searching for survivors in Elangipitiya village in Aranayaka about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Soldiers and police used sticks and bare hands Wednesday to dig through enormous piles of mud covering houses in three villages hit by massive landslides in central Sri Lanka, with hundreds of families reported missing. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

The scene after a massive landslide in Kegalle District, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains crashed down onto three villages in the central hills of Sri Lanka, and more than 200 families were missing Wednesday and feared buried under the mud and debris, the Sri Lankan Red Cross said. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lankans walk on mud after a massive landslide at Aranayaka in Kegalle District, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains crashed down onto three villages in the central hills of Sri Lanka, and several families were missing Wednesday and feared buried under the mud and debris, the Sri Lankan Red Cross said. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)