It was reported that at least 600 people are still missing in Freetown, Sierra Leone following a mudslide and massive flooding on Monday.

Freetown spokesman for the president says the capital needs urgent support as the entire community had been wiped out.

A mass burial is planned to take place on Wednesday to relieve pressure in the morgues.

Sierra Leone mudslide

Casualties of the mudslide have been piling up since Tuesday, as dead bodies are being washed up on the shores while some people are buried in their own homes according to reports from the BBC.

According to the authorities, more than 300 people were killed both in and around Freetown due to the mudslide brought by heavy rains. Many residents were trapped under the mud, and it’s according to Red Cross, it’s a race against time to find survivors.

The entire community of Freetown is grieving, and there are hundreds of people still missing up to now. The community hospitals were overwhelmed with 300 bodies, and some spread on the floor as the building is jam-packed with casualties.

Charles Mambu, a civil society activist, said that the death toll of the Sierra Leone mudslide might outnumber the dead bodies that had already been recovered since the search-and rescue operations have been conducted.

A call for help

President Ernest Bai Koroma visited the devastated community and called for international help. As of now, the critical problem of Freetown is space as they are trying to separate, quantify, and briefly examine the dead bodies before they issue death certificates for the mass burial. With 600 missing, the number of mudslide victims continues to rise today.

According to ABC News, the Israeli Foreign Ministry had already sent out 10,000 meals to Freetown, Sierra Leone as well as medical aid. Witnesses said that the morgues weren’t able to accommodate all the bodies, as the number of victims continues to rise. Some were lying on the floor due to lack of space. Medicine Sans Frontieres also extended a helping hand, providing hundreds of body bags which they kept at Sierra Leone.

Abdul Nasir from Red Cross said in a statement that he hasn’t seen anything like the Sierra Leone mudslide whereas a river of mud just came out of nowhere, burying people alive and wiping the community away. It is indeed a race against time, for there are threats of more flooding and disease. The community needs to cope with the losses brought about by the tragedy that has stricken them.