COLOMBO: Around 100 people still missing following landslides in Sri Lanka last week are believed dead, authorities said on Saturday after failing to find signs of life under tonnes of mud.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said 67 bodies had been recovered from the worst hit central district of Kegalle where 99 people were still listed as missing following the rain-triggered May 17 disaster.

“The military is keeping up a search, but there is no hope of finding anyone alive now,” DMC spokesman Pradeep Kodippili said. “The 99 people missing in the landslides are believed to be dead.”

Heavy rains also triggered floods across much of the country last week and claimed 37 lives in addition to those killed in the landslides, according to the DMC.

A military official in Kegalle, 100 kilometres north-east of Colombo, said search operations were hampered by continuous rain in the region.

The government has said floods and landslides caused by heavy rain drove over 600,000 people from their homes, but most of them have since returned with water levels subsiding.

Sri Lanka has received emergency aid from other countries, including giant neighbour India which dispatched two naval ships and an aircraft loaded with supplies.

Our correspondent adds: The torrential rains, flooding and landslides which battered central and western Sri Lanka since May 14 have ceased but the damage is estimated to have cost the country around Sri Lankan rupees 300 billion (US$ 2bn) according to initial estimates by the ministry of finance.

As the country returns to normal, the Sri Lankan government is expecting US$ 3bn from the international community to help it provide relief and rehabilitation for the 600,000 people affected by the floods and landslides in Sri Lanka.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told the international media that while accurate figures are not yet available, the estimated damage is in the range of US$ 1.5 to 2bn and that the government would look to obtain US$3bn as concessional loans from the international community.

According to the finance minister, 127,000 houses and other buildings have to be repaired and 25,000 to 30,000 houses have to be re-constructed. Meanwhile, a special cargo plane carrying relief goods for the Sri Lankan flood victims from Pakistan arrived at Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake, on Saturday afternoon.

It brought the third consignment of relief good containing medicine, raincoats, rain boots, mosquito repellants, shelters and tents.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2016