A military rescue team searches the site of a landslide at the
Koslanda tea plantation near Haldummulla, Sri Lanka, on Thursday of
last week. Officials estimate that the landslide the previous day
resulted in at least ten deaths. On Tuesday, 28 people were still
missing. Initial official reports suggested that more than 250
people had been buried. The two-mile-long landslide was triggered
by days of heavy monsoon rains. The disaster-management minister
has said that new homes will be built in a safe location.
The Anglican Communion News Service
reported that Church of Ceylon clergy and lay people
in the area, and the board of social responsibility of
the diocese of Colombo, were closely following the situation.
They would co-ordinate the Church's relief efforts once the
situation permitted; the Church's involvement was likely to be in
post-disaster rehabilitation for survivors and victims'
families