mass burials for 160 sierra leone flood victims
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

over deforestation and poor urban planning

Mass burials for 160 Sierra Leone flood victims

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Mass burials for 160 Sierra Leone flood victims

Sierra Leone prepared for the burials of 160
Freetown - Arab Today

 Sierra Leone prepared for the burials of 160 victims of devastating floods on Thursday, as fears grew of more mudslides and accusations of government "inaction" over deforestation and poor urban planning mounted.

After it emerged that at least 105 of the dead were children, citizens and experts alike questioned why the government of President Ernest Bai Koroma had not done more to tackle illegal construction in the overcrowded capital of Freetown.

A Red Cross official told AFP meanwhile that smaller mudslides had occurred since Monday in eastern Freetown and in Sierra Leone's second city of Bo, with the rainy season far from over.

"There is a fear that more trouble is imminent," in Freetown, a coastal city of around one million people, said Adbul Nasir of the International Red Cross.

Adding to the danger, the Office of National Security, which is coordinating the government's response, was informed that a mountain which partially collapsed on Monday had cracked at another point.

Although the death toll is officially 300, rescue workers privately agree the toll is far higher, and one told AFP that in line with an unofficial morgue toll, 400 graves had been dug for the victims, who will be buried over a two-day period.

The UN has said 4,000 people are affected by the mudslides and flooding.

With the aim of clearing the overflowing central morgue, the first burials were due to begin at 1500 GMT in Waterloo, a nearby town where many victims of the Ebola crisis that hit the nation in 2014 were also laid to rest, though the ceremony was delayed.

Idalia Amaya, emergency response coordinator for Catholic Relief Services in Freetown, said some families hit by Ebola would now be burying loved ones killed in the floods.

"People are going through a complicated grieving process... first Ebola, now the mudslides," she told AFP, confirming that 160 people would be buried on Thursday.

- 'No place to sleep' -

The disaster began on Monday when heavy rains hit the city and the partial collapse of a hillside triggered mudslides, engulfing homes and wreaking destruction.

For the thousands of survivors left homeless, UN agencies distributed food and hygiene kits to those sheltering in government centres and in the homes of neighbours and family members.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 3D mapping of affected neighbourhoods was taking place around Sugar Loaf mountain, which partially collapsed on Monday, and said voluntary evacuations may extend to more areas, potentially increasing the number of displaced.

"We have no place now to sleep, only in a neighbour's house," said Abdul Bendu, in the Pentagon community, which sits directly below the devastated hilltop village of Regent.

UNICEF called the damage "unprecedented" on Thursday and warned children were at risk, while the UN humanitarian affairs office said four registration centres for unaccompanied minors had been established.

- 'Government failure' -

Others began to ask why such a tragedy was allowed to happen in the first place, given the clockwork regularity of annual flooding in Freetown.

Amnesty International said the mudslides "grimly illustrate the human cost of the government's failure to implement housing and land policies," in a statement on Thursday.

"I think it's the deforestation," said resident Samuel Lackoh, speaking to AFP in Pentagon.

In recent years, trees have been cut down from the Western peninsular forest on Freetown's limits, with everything from shacks to mansions springing up on the slopes.

Jamie Hitchen, an expert with the Africa Research Institute, told AFP that poor urban planning had been a problem for years, but that the government response had "broadly been one of inaction".

"Particularly in the areas around Regent, construction of houses illegally is being undertaken at all levels of society with impunity," he said in an email to AFP.

Identifying deficiencies in waste management, preventing deforestation, urban planning and the provision of decent housing, Hitchen said "a problem of politics" meant that the city's drains were blocked and dump sites were full.

"There is no urban planning to speak of in the city," he added.

- Future relocation? -

The government has said that in the light of the catastrophe, "relocation and opening up of a new settlement around the Freetown peninsula" would be considered, but similar measures have failed in the past as people seek to live close to the city centre for work.

Sierra Leone, a former British colony, meanwhile received condolences from Queen Elizabeth II, who said she was "deeply saddened to learn of the terrible flooding and landslides in Freetown".

Hull, a British city which is twinned with Freetown, has launched its own aid appeal, joining foreign governments including in Guinea, Israel, Liberia, Senegal and the EU in sending food and cash to the stricken city.

Chinese medical workers bolstered relief efforts, and Beijing has promised $1 million in emergency funds.

source:AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

mass burials for 160 sierra leone flood victims mass burials for 160 sierra leone flood victims

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

mass burials for 160 sierra leone flood victims mass burials for 160 sierra leone flood victims

 



GMT 05:17 2017 Wednesday ,01 February

US stocks end mixed amid earning reports

GMT 04:59 2017 Saturday ,23 September

Suicide bombers kill 3 in Iraq restaurant

GMT 15:57 2017 Monday ,23 January

Zayed Giving Initiative hosts second banquet

GMT 23:52 2017 Sunday ,01 October

Need more room? Twitter testing 280-character limit

GMT 15:03 2017 Sunday ,24 September

Three terrorists killed in DI Khan: ISPR

GMT 08:13 2017 Friday ,03 March

Israeli photographer David Rubinger dead at 92

GMT 01:11 2017 Saturday ,11 November

Saudi graft purge 'raises a few concerns': Tillerson

GMT 00:56 2017 Monday ,09 January

Money has lost anonymity post demonetisation

GMT 00:27 2017 Saturday ,25 February

Merkel will defy populists and stay on course to 2017

GMT 14:36 2017 Friday ,01 December

Disney makes history as 'Thor' pushes takings to $5bn

GMT 08:18 2017 Thursday ,02 November

Title-holder Mahrez excluded from CAF nominees

GMT 07:00 2017 Monday ,06 March

Colombia FARC women rebels plan

GMT 14:37 2017 Sunday ,19 November

Mnangagwa replaces Mugabe as ZANU-PF party chief

GMT 05:05 2017 Tuesday ,21 November

Trump designates DPRK as state sponsor of terror

GMT 15:21 2018 Wednesday ,12 December

Israeli forces arrest 16 Palestinians in West Bank
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday