Over 300 killed due to landslide in Sierra Leone

Houses were submerged in mud after a night of heavy rain that saw a hillside in the Regent area collapse. The Sierra Leone Red Cross said hundreds of bodies had been taken to the central morgue in Freetown.

Many people living at the foot of Mount Sugar Loaf were asleep when the mountainside collapsed, burying dozens of houses, including two-storey buildings, witnesses said.

According to the Red Cross, there are already more than 312 casualties, but the death toll is expected to soar as many people might have been asleep when the Regent landslide happened.

"It is likely that hundreds are lying dead underneath the rubble. The disaster is so serious that I myself feel broken. We're trying to cordon off the area and evacuate the people," said Sierra Leone's Vice President, Victor Foh.

Police and military personnel were at the scene in the mountain town of Regent searching for people trapped in the debris./.