Sri Lanka has closed government offices and schools after relentless rains and landslides pushed the national death toll to 56 and damaged more than 600 homes, officials said.
Severe weather has gripped the island for days, but conditions deteriorated sharply on Thursday as torrential downpours submerged roads, fields and neighbourhoods, while triggering deadly landslides across multiple regions.
The worst-hit areas are the central tea-growing highlands of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya, where more than 25 people were killed in landslides. Another 21 people remain missing and at least 14 are injured in those districts alone, according to Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre.
Additional fatalities were reported in other parts of the country as unstable slopes gave way under the weight of continuous rain.With rivers and reservoirs overflowing, authorities ordered all government offices and schools closed on Friday as a precaution. Passenger trains were halted and key roads shut down after mud, rocks and trees slid onto transport routes, many of which were already flooded.
Emergency crews, the navy and police deployed boats to evacuate stranded residents, while air force helicopters carried out rooftop rescues. Local television footage showed one such operation where three people were airlifted from a home completely surrounded by floodwaters.
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