Sierra Leone’s leader desperately appeals for help after floods and mudslides kill hundreds

Sierra Leone’s president issued a desperate appeal for help on Tuesday, a day after flooding ravaged the country’s capital, killing more than 300 people and leaving hundreds more missing.

Touring Regent, one of the worst-hit areas, President Ernest Bai Koroma fought back tears as he said the devastation was “overwhelming us”.

“Entire communities have been wiped out,” Koroma said. “We need urgent support now.”

As the city began to bury its dead, foreign governments began mobilising aid, with Israel pledging to help provide clean water, medicines and blankets and other essentials. British International Development Secretary Priti Patel said she was working with the Sierra Leone government to establish what steps to take.

Heavy rains streaming down a hill in Regent triggered a landslide that engulfed homes three or four storeys high, many of them built illegally.

Koroma toured the Connaught hospital and central morgue, which have been overwhelmed with bodies.

The government of Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, has promised relief to more than 3,000 people left homeless, opening an emergency response centre in Regent and four registration centres. The Red Cross said 600 people were still missing.