Cyclone deaths cross 200 in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO/MANILA — Low-lying areas of Sri Lanka's capital were flooded on Sunday after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, killing at least 212 people and leaving many more missing.

Officials said the extent of the damage in the country's worst-affected central region was only just being revealed as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides.

The Disaster Management Centre said at least 212 people had died following a week of heavy rains brought on by Cyclone Ditwah, while 218 people were missing.

The northern parts of Colombo were flooded as the water level in the Kelani River rose rapidly, the center said.

"Although the cyclone has left us, heavy rains upstream are now flooding low-lying areas along the banks of the Kelani River," an official from the center said.

Selvi, 46, a resident of the Colombo suburb of Wellawatta, left her flooded home on Sunday, carrying four bags of clothes and valuables.

"My house is completely flooded. I don't know where to go, but I hope there is some safe shelter where I can take my family," she told AFP.

Although there have been relatively few injuries, the National Blood Transfusion Service said they were in short supply.

The blood bank chief, Lakshman Edirisinghe, said their daily requirement was about 1,500 units of blood, but the weather-related disruptions had reduced the supply to just 236 units on Saturday.

"Because of floods and heavy rains, we were unable to conduct our mobile campaigns to collect blood," he told reporters in Colombo. "We appeal to donors to visit the nearest blood bank."

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared a state of emergency on Saturday to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone and appealed for international aid.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, thousands of demonstrators protested on Sunday, calling for the swift prosecution of top legislators and officials implicated in a corruption scandal.

Rage over so-called ghost flood-control projects has been mounting for months in the country, where entire towns have been buried in floodwaters driven by powerful typhoons in recent months.

On Sunday, marchers faced with barbed wire-wrapped barricades blocking their route to the presidential palace chanted "Police! Protectors of the corrupt!" as riot police pounded on their shields in response.

The first arrests in connection with the scandal — eight members of the Department of Public Works and Highways — were announced just days ago, with the government promising that "big fish are coming soon".

Agencies via Xinhua