Sunday, January 14, 2007

No candles, kerosine for villagers cut off by landslides in Sri Lanka

Associated Press, Sun January 14, 2007 11:06 Sri Lanka - (AP) Isolated and cut off from supplies because of heavy landslides, displaced people in this remote central Sri Lankan village say their stocks of candles and kerosine oil are exhausted.

``We lit our last candle yesterday and our kerosine oil stock is finished so we will have no lighting at night,'' said R.B. Weerasooriya, a village administrative officer.

More than 500 people in Landupitiya fled their homes and took shelter in a government school in the same village after at least 17 people from surrounding areas died and many went missing in Friday's landslides.

Between 9,000 and 16,000 were made homeless by the disaster that hit many parts of Nuwara Eliya district, known for its lush tea gardens.

Landupitiya, on higher ground, survived, but people saw their walls cracking from smaller earth slips, forcing them to abandon their homes, Weerasooriya said.

School teacher Wimala Kumari said that she took shelter in the school where she works when she saw a strong gush of rain water uproot a large tree in her garden.

Electricity has been cut off since Friday, and vehicles from outside can't reach the village because wide cracks have appeared on many parts of the only access road.

Some people take the risk of trekking down to the nearby town Padiyapelella to get provisions, but the town is nearly deserted after the government advised the people to go to safety because continuing monsoon rains could cause more landslides.

On Sunday, army soldiers visited Landupitiya for the first time since Friday to evacuate sick and elderly people to hospitals.

Meanwhile, Gamini Hettiarachchi, director general of the Disaster Management Center, said Sunday that evacuation of people cut off by the landslides was hampered because air force helicopters could not operate because of mist and heavy rain.

Speaking from Colombo, he said 128 people were air lifted on Saturday.

Associated Press writer Bharatha Mallawarachi contributed to this report from Colombo.

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