Hundreds
of soldiers resumed the slow and difficult search Friday for hundreds
of people missing after landslides swallowed three hillside villages in
central Sri Lanka, a dangerous effort as continuing rain kept the ground
unstable and the risk of more mudslides a constant threat.
By Friday morning, rescuers had recovered 30 bodies, out of hundreds believed buried on Tuesday when torrents of thick, red mud buried the villages of Siripura, Pallebage and Elangapitya. The Sri Lankan Red Cross has said at least 220 families were unaccounted for.