HALDUMMULLA, Sri Lanka, (Reuters) – All hopes of finding survivors under the mud and rubble of a landslide in south-central Sri Lanka had run out by first light today, though a government minister cut the estimated death toll to more than 100 from 300 the previous night.
“I don’t think there could be any survivors,” Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told Reuters, after visiting the disaster site in the tea-plantation village of Haldummulla, 190 km (120 miles) from the capital, Colombo.
“It is about 100 people who have been buried as there were some children and some estate workers who were not at their houses at the time of the disaster,” he added, explaining why the death toll could be lower than feared the day before.
However, the Disaster Management Centre’s last estimate for the number killed was still 300.
The centre said 150 houses were buried in Wednesday’s landslide, which stretched 3 km (2 miles) and engulfed the village after days of heavy monsoon rains.
