Sierra Leone’s Koroma Appeals for Help as Mudslide Death Toll Climbs

Sierra Leone’s Koroma Appeals for Help as Mudslide Death Toll Climbs
Sierra Leone’s president, Ernest Bai Koroma, arrives for talks with Gambia's then-president, Yahya Jammeh, to urge Jammeh to respect last year's election result, Banjul, Gambia, Dec. 13, 2016 (AP photo by Sylvain Cherkaoui).

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, WPR Associate Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent.

The Waterloo cemetery on the outskirts of Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, the final resting place for many people killed during West Africa’s 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, was again being put to use this week as the government struggled to cope with mudslides and flooding that left hundreds dead.

Video footage of Monday’s disaster showed torrents of mud and water rushing down one of the area’s many hills. The mudslide occurred as many people were sleeping, and it “is thought to have traveled for two miles,” according to The Guardian. The death toll topped 400 people by Friday morning, and an estimated 600 remained missing.

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