Hospital officals: Nearly 500 dead in Sierra Leone mudslides
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Churches across Sierra Leone held special services Sunday in memory of those killed in mudslides and flooding earlier this week, as hospital officials announced the toll had risen to nearly 500 bodies collected.
More than 600 people remain missing and rescue officials have warned that the chances of finding survivors are decreasing each day. The death toll earlier stood at 450.
The Inter-Religious Council called for the services to be held Sunday in honour of the deceased, as special prayers and recitals were offered in mosques Friday and Sunday.
The preacher at Buxton Memorial Methodist Church in Freetown, the capital, offered a sermon that looked at mankind’s contribution to the disaster, as a gospel band rendered the song “Papa God Sorry for Salone (Sierra Leone).”