Hundreds dead in Sierra Leone flooding

At least 200 people are dead after heavy rains and flooding ravaged Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown.

The death toll is expected to rise as more bodies are recovered from the mudslide, Red Cross spokesman Abu Bakarr Tarawallie told Reuters.

According to an AP report, the number of dead has overwhelmed the city’s resources, as bodies lay spread out across the floor of the city’s morgue.

“The capacity at the mortuary is too small for the corpses,” Sinneh Kamara, a coroner technician at the Connaught Hospital mortuary, told the Sierra Leone National Broadcasting Corp.

The military has been deployed to help with the rescue operation, according to a Reuters report.

The poor sections of Sierra Leone, located at sea level,  are threatened by flooding each year during the rainy season because they lack adequate drainage systems.