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Severe weather kills 14 in Sri Lanka

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IANS Colombo

Heavy rains followed by floods and landslides claimed 14 lives in Sri Lanka Monday, the country's disaster management centre said.

Most of those who were killed were from the southern township of Kalutara where heavy flooding was reported after overnight rain, Xinhua reported.

The Sri Lankan Navy said it has deployed boats to assist the people affected by floods in Kalutara and the surrounding areas.

A navy official said that naval personnel were engaged in evacuation of people from trapped homes and buildings, ferrying people to safe places.

The navy is monitoring the flood situation and 16 additional rescue teams are on stand-by in the southern and western naval areas for emergency deployment.

 

The air force has also been deployed to assist the affected people.

The meteorology department, meanwhile, warned of rough seas due to the active cloud movement in the western sea area.

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First Published: Jun 02 2014 | 6:16 PM IST

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