Colombo: Fourteen people have been killed due to heavy rains in Sri Lanka while over 245,000 people have been affected, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said in its latest update here Sunday.
Out of the 14 killed, five deaths have been reported from Kegalle, located 88 kilometers away from capital Colombo, while three deaths have been reported from the Ratnapura District.
Two people have been reported missing while two more have been injured, the Xinhua news agency reported.
According to DMC statistics, 15,658 people have been moved to safer locations while over 800 houses have been damaged.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Navy said that following rising concerns, there was no threat of furnace oil from tanks at the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery being mixed into the Kelani River in the outskirts of Colombo.
Tanks containing furnace oil at the oil refinery had overflown with rainwater following the heavy downpour on Saturday.
The navy said it had taken action together with the Sri Lanka Coast Guard to skim the furnace oil exposed to the external environment and to prevent further spread as it could have an adverse impact on the water distribution of the main Ambathale and Biyagama water treatment plants.
Navy Spokesman Captain Indika De Silva said that operations were continuing to skim the furnace oil from the flood waters using floating boom.
Due to the adverse weather,the Health Ministry said the vaccination program on Covid-19 had also suffered a setback.
Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath told local media that while the vaccination rollout in the districts had not been suspended, officials however could not perform their 100 per cent due to heavy rains.
The Meteorology Department in its latest weather report said that heavy falls of 150 mm could be expected in the coming days and the public were urged to be cautious especially from heavy lightning.
