Sri Lanka issues landslide alert

COLOMBO, Dec 07 (AFP): Sri Lankan authorities issued fresh landslide warnings on Sunday with rains lashing areas already devastated by a powerful cyclone, as the death toll rose to 618.
More than two million people-nearly 10 percent of the population-have been affected by last week's floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah, the worst on the island this century.
The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said monsoon storms were adding more rain and making hillsides unstable, including the central mountainous region and the north-western midlands.
Helicopters and planes were being used on Sunday to supply communities cut off by landslides in the centre of the country. The Sri Lanka Air Force said it had received a planeload of relief supplies from Myanmar on Sunday, the latest batch of foreign aid.
The government has confirmed 618 dead -- 464 from the lush tea-growing central region-while 209 people remain unaccounted for. The number of people in state-run refugee camps had dropped to 100,000 from a peak of 225,000 as floodwaters receded across the island by Sunday, the DMC said.
More than 75,000 homes were damaged, including close to 5,000 that were completely destroyed, it added.
The government on Friday unveiled a major compensation package to rebuild homes and revive businesses wiped out by the natural disaster, which hit the island as it was emerging from its 2022 economic meltdown.