With the numbers expected to rise soon, 500 have been confirmed dead in the Sierra Leone mudslide, while 600 appeared to be missing.
The third of the victims in the mudslide were children. A heavy rain on Monday caused the mudslide to sweep away peoples' homes and resulted in the deaths of hundreds throughout the week. The country now faces the threat of malaria and cholera after residents reports infection from the water they have been washed in, and also drinking.
Mass grave for the victims of the mudslide
While speaking to CNN, the Deputy health minister, Madina Rahman called for the world to rally behind Sierra Leone as the country cannot handle the crisis alone. Madina said;
The number of people dead is changing every day, we have just done a census recently, and we are working with the statistics office to see how many people are on that site and how many people are unaccounted for and how many people were dead and buried.
Cultural Affairs Minister Sidie Yahya Tunis while speaking on the evacuation process as more heavy rain is expected, Sidie said;
Evacuation is being discussed. Some have been happening but not on a large scale. At this point, more hands are needed on deck, both locally and internationally. The gravity is huge, and the magnitude is just so much for this nation to handle. I pray that other countries will come in to assist.
The United Kingdom through UNICEF have offered $6.4 million emergency to provide clean water,medicine and food.