NEW DELHI, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - Thirteen people have been killed and another 150,000 left homeless in Sri Lanka following floods triggered by torrential rains, local emergencies services reported on Monday.
Torrential rains have struck a total of eight regions in central and western parts of the country, mainly the Kaluthara district, during the past three days, damaging thousands of houses and roads and ruining crops.
"Overall, more than 150,000 people from 45,000 families have been badly affected by the floods," an official at the Disaster Management Centre told the Indo-Asian News Service.
Local navy, army, and police units are providing assistance to those people hit by the flash floods and subsequent landslides. The government has allocated 15 million rupees ($140,000) to assist the flood victims.
Meteorologists said heavy rains were expected to continue in the area during the next few days.
