- Title: Facing risk of disease, Sierra Leone flood victims have no access to clean water
- Date: 18th August 2017
- Summary: LUMLEY, SIERRA LEONE (AUGUST 18, 2017) (REUTERS) RESIDENTS AT SITE OF MUDSLIDE AND FLOODING STANDING AROUND SOURCE OF WATER FROM BROKEN PIPE CHILDREN FILLING CONTAINERS WITH WATER FROM BROKEN PIPE VARIOUS OF CONTAINER BEING FILLED WITH WATER FROM BROKEN PIPE YOUNG WOMAN STANDING AROUND RESIDENTS GATHERED CLOSE OF GIRL YOUNG WOMAN HOLDING CHILD AND STANDING WITH OTHER RESIDENTS CLOSE OF CHILD LUMLEY RESIDENT ANDREW KAINASI SHOWING AREA AFFECTED BY MUDSLIDE / DAMAGED HOUSE DAMAGED HOUSE TREE TRUNK IN FRONT OF DAMAGED HOUSE CLOSE OF DAMAGED HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) LUMLEY RESIDENT, ANDREW KAINASI, SAYING: "No water to drink. We are really suffering in this community. We are really suffering. No light. When night comes, we will not be able to sleep in this community. While our hearts are still heavy because of this situation and we don't know what will happen next within two days or three days. So we really want the government, the NGOs to assist us, to evacuate people from this community, find a suitable place for us where we can live with our families, we are really begging." (SOUNDBITE) (English and Krio) LUMLEY RESIDENT, ALI KAMARA, SAYING: "Really it’s not easy for us. This is a disaster killed a lot of people, this disaster caused a lot of damage so we need help from the government. Right now, we have no clothes to wear, we have no where to sleep, we don't even have water to drink so we need help from the government, so we need a lot of help. As you can see even that house there are dead bodies in there. We cannot remove the bodies and the building is demolished. We need someone to come and pull the dead bodies from there. Really we need help from the government." FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (AUGUST 18, 2017) (REUTERS) SECRETARY GENERAL OF SIERRA LEONE RED CROSS SOCIETY, CONSTANT KARGBO, IN OFFICE KARGBO AT DESK LOGO OF THE RED CROSS ON KARGBO VEST (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECRETARY GENERAL OF SIERRA LEONE RED CROSS SOCIETY, CONSTANT KARGBO, SAYING: "A disaster of this nature needs the intervention of so many other support. On the wash aspect, we have to clean areas. We have IPC, Infection and Prevention Control, people who will go out and clean to stop the spread of disease and also we do have, we intend to distribute aquataps to clean some water for people to drink. Basically, these are our plans. We do not have, currently, any plans to, like, erect a big tank or something like that because already, in some areas, the government is already doing that." LUMLEY, SIERRA LEONE (AUGUST 18, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WATER FLOWING VARIOUS OF RESIDENT WALKING OVER TREE BRANCH ACROSS STREAM OF WATER VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS STANDING NEXT TO FLOWING WATER
- Embargoed: 1st September 2017 13:42
- Keywords: disease Sierra Leone mudslide victims Africa's worst flood disasters United Nations access to clean water
- Location: LUMLEY AND FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- City: LUMLEY AND FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Sierra Leone
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Floods
- Reuters ID: LVA0016UOP5JB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Natural and human factors made Sierra Leone's capital vulnerable to a landslide that killed more than 400 people this week: heavy rain, deforested land and communities forced by overcrowding to live on steep hillsides.
Those vulnerabilities are mirrored in villages and cities across West and Central Africa - among the world's poorest and wettest regions - that face a worsening threat from landslides, researchers say.
Hundreds are also missing after the side of Mount Sugar Loaf collapsed near Freetown on Monday (August 14) in one of the worst flooding-related disasters in Africa in years.
Victims of the flood on Friday (August 18) called on their government and NGOs for help and said they do not have access to clean water.
Spokesperson for the World Health Organisation (WHO), Christian Lindmeier, said there was a high risk of disease outbreaks such as Malaria as flooding "creates breeding grounds for mosquitoes".
Landslides generally happen after periods of heavy rain, saturating or liquefying soil and causing slippage. They are more likely to occur if soil is laid bare by deforestation or urban planning. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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