ARANAYAKA: Sri Lankan troops were Thursday digging through piles of mud to search for dozens reported missing after landslides buried two villages, killing at least 17 people.
Police said there was little hope of finding any survivors from the landslides that hit a mountainous area of the country late Tuesday after days of heavy rains that have brought flooding to many parts of the island.
"We found 14 bodies from here yesterday and after that we have not recovered any more," a senior police officer told AFP from one of the villages, requesting anonymity.
Another three bodies were found in a second village in the tea-growing district of Kegalle, which is about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north-east of the capital.
The area is prone to landslides and many residents had already fled their homes when the disaster struck, but police said villagers had reported 134 people still missing.
"The loss is devastating," President Maithripala Sirisena tweeted after visiting the area on Wednesday.
The Disaster Management Authority has warned there could be further landslides, and has evacuated families from some areas.
"We have issued more landslide warnings and have asked residents in vulnerable areas to be vigilant," said spokesman Pradeep Kodippili.
At least 38 people have died on the island in weather-related disasters since the weekend.
Hundreds of thousands are already sheltering in state-run welfare centres and the military has been put on alert to help evacuate people in low-lying areas.
The meteorological department said the heavy rains were caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal.
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