Local people transfer their belongings to a secured area on the site of the mudslide in Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, on Aug. 19, 2017. Bodies recovered from the mudslide and flooding on Aug. 14 in Sierra Leone have totalled 499, local media reported on Sunday. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)
BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The number of bodies recovered after a mudslide and flooding hit Sierra Leone on Aug. 14 has reached 499, Sierra Leonean media reported Sunday.
Victims include 162 males, 163 females, 156 children and an additional 18, Awoko Newspaper reported.
A hillside collapsed in heavy rains in the early hours of Aug. 14, killing residents and destroying homes near or on the outskirts of Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, and leaving more than 2,000 others homeless.
Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma on Tuesday declared seven days of mourning across the country with immediate effect.
Humanitarian aid is coming in from countries including China, Morocco, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for people affected by the disaster.
According to the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone, in addition to donations from local Chinese companies and organizations, the Chinese government had decided to provide 1 million U.S. dollars in emergency humanitarian aid to the Sierra Leonean government.
Meanwhile, the Medical Aid Team of Chinese People's Liberation Army has been participating in disaster relief through the coordination of the joint medical unit set up by Sierra Leone's armed forces.
The team has treated more than 70 people hit by the disaster, team leader Guo Xuejun said on Sunday.
Sierra Leone is a country with high incidence of infectious diseases, and has registered a large number of cases of malaria and intestinal diseases.
The crowdedness at the settlement for disaster-affected residents and the hot and humid environment could increase the possibility of an epidemic outbreak, which usually comes with a large-scale disaster, according to Guo.
In order to help forestall such a situation, the team sterilized the peripheral of the settlement and sprayed insecticide to prevent the breeding of vector species. Medical experts also provided medical services to the victims by instructing them how to prevent infectious diseases.
Moroccan King Mohammed VI has ordered sending humanitarian aid to Sierra Leone, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The aid, consisting of 60 tons of food, tents, and medicines for cholera, would be delivered by the Moroccan armed forces to Sierra Leone on Sunday, according to the statement.
Ghana has also mobilized relief items valued at 1 million dollars for disaster victims in Sierra Leone.
A package, comprising food, medicines, clothing and logistics for a temporary shelter, is to be airlifted to the West African country, the Ministry of Information said in a statement copied to Xinhua on Friday.
The UAE offered emergency relief worth 100,000 dollars to the West African country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Abu Dhabi said that it would provide 367,000 dirhams (100,000 dollars) in emergency relief through the World Food Program.
