200 families feared dead in Sri Lanka mudslides

At least 16 people are confirmed dead from mudslides that washed over three villages in central Sri Lanka on Tuesday night, military spokesman Brig. Jayanath Jayaweera says. About 180 people are known to have survived the mudslides, and 1,141 who escaped are in shelters nearby, but at least 200 families are still missing from three villages, the Sri Lanka Red Cross says, and the death toll is expected to rise. The villages are about 45 minutes north of Colombo, the capital, which has been flooded by the same heavy rains that caused the mudslides. The rain is forecast to continue in much of the island nation, where 11 other people have been reported killed in recent days by electrocution and landslides.

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