Mudslides Kill Hundreds in Sierra Leone

Hundreds of people are feared dead following massive mudslides near Freetown, the capital of the West African nation of Sierra Leone, according to government officials and aid agencies. Per CNN, the hunt for survivors of the deadly mudslide continues Tuesday (August 15) as the official death toll rose to 245, with numbers expected to grow and hundreds still missing.

“More bodies have been discovered. The number rose from 205 to 245, the search continued this morning, and we expect the same to rise,” Abu Bakarr, spokesman for the Red Cross in Sierra Leone, told CNN on Tuesday. The toll has reached to nearly 400 by Wednesday with another 600 still missing.

Heavy rain, normally a blessing at this time of the year in West Africa, turned into a night mare on Monday when flooding caused torrents of mud to wash down Mount Sugar Loaf about five miles outside the capital Freetown. A chunk of the mountain came down under the force of the water, onto the houses that hugged the slopes, many of them little more than wooden shacks with tin roofs in this desperately poor nation.