Four dead, several missing as Sri Lanka faces massive rains, floods

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Four persons, including two children, have died and several others remained missing while over 2.30 lakh individuals were affected across Sri Lanka due to inclement weather following a massive rain system in southwest Bay of Bengal, authorities said on Wednesday.

At least six Colombo-bound flights were diverted to other airports on Wednesday morning due to heavy rain - 75 mm in 24 hours ending at 8:00 am - and high winds experienced in most parts of the island due to the Deep Depression (heavy rain bearing system) over the southwest Bay of Bengal.

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The Deep Depression is likely to move north-northwest wards closer to the east coast of Sri Lanka and intensify further into a cyclonic storm later in the day, the meteorological department said.

Army and navy troops were deployed to rescue victims and provide food and other essentials to those affected.

News portal NewsFirst.lk said six flights scheduled to arrive at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) here were diverted to other airports, including to Indian airports.

Sri Lankan Airlines flight from Tokyo, Emirates flights arriving from Male, and IndiGo flight from Chennai, all destined for Colombo, were diverted to the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport while Air Arabia flight from Sharjah was diverted to Kozhikode International Airport.

Sri Lankan Airlines flight from Male and Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi to Colombo, both were diverted to Mattala International Airport, NewsFirst.lk said.

Meanwhile, police said bodies of two of the six students who were swept away in raging floods on Tuesday in the eastern Ampara district, were found while efforts were on to trace others continued on Wednesday.

The six students, between 12-16 years, and the tractor operator were on their way back from school at Sammanthurai in the Ampara district when the farm tractor trolley they were travelling on was swept by the massive floods following the heavy rains in the area. Five other children and the tractor driver were rescued, police added.

Ahead of the forecast of the Deep Depression intensifying into a cyclonic storm, the island nation has been experiencing heavy downpours since Monday leaving large area inundated - flooded homes, fields and roads, everything.

Train services were suspended in the mountain areas.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said reported the floods have resulted in two more fatalities elsewhere while seven persons are reported missing in different parts of the country. Among the two deceased was a woman, who was killed when a brick wall collapsed on her in Badulla in central Sri Lanka but gave no details about the other person.

The DMC also that the prevailing inclement weather conditions have affected a total of 2,30,743 individuals across Sri Lanka while more than 10,000 individuals from 3,102 families are currently being sheltered in 104 relief centres, news portal Adaderana.lk said.

The National Building Research Institute (NBRI) has issued landslide warnings covering four of the nine provinces.

"The rainfall within the past 24 hours has exceeded 75 mm. If the rain continues, there is a possibility of landslides and slope failures," a release from the NBRI said.

The Irrigation Department too has issued flood warning for several low-lying areas of Kelani River Basin and Kala Oya Basin effective until Friday morning, Adaderana.lk said.

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