After three days of heavy rains that triggered floods and landslides in Sri Lanka, it is reported that at least 35 people have been killed and 150 remained missing. 16 bodies have been rescued today from the houses buried, one of the rescue officers said. Two villages have been heavily affected by the mudslides.

Military spokesman Brig. Jayanath Jayaweera said, more than 300 soldiers deployed for the rescue mission and saved 150 people trapped in Aranayake village. Samsara hill in Elangapitiya village was hit by the earth-slip.

SHA Faizal, a state official, said that “1,041 people from the area have been housed in a camp and that the army, police, and the air force are carrying out a search for bodies.” The severely affected villages are located in the central mountainous Kegalle District which is about 72 kilometres northeast of Country Capital, Colombo.

At least 66 houses were buried by earth-slip in Kegalla. Kegalla district is a landslide prone area and many people and houses were fled after the rains. According to the reports, 81,216 families or 3,32,254 people were marooned.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Red Cross said more than 200 families are feared buried by rain-triggered mudslides in three villages – Siripura, Pallebage, and Elagipitya – in Kegalle District, which Kodippili dismissed and said the death toll was not expected to rise significantly. Some 22 districts of the island were hit by the bad weather, heavy rains which were over 200 millimetres in most areas.