More than 100 Feared Dead After Landslides in Sri Lanka

Roughly 150 people are feared dead on Wednesday after more than three days of heavy rainfall triggered two landslides in central Sri Lanka. Rescuers have been digging through the mud for survivors, and recovered more than a dozen dead bodies before pausing the effort at night.

Torrential rains have forced more than 223,000 people from their homes across the South Asian country, the latest official data showed. Seventeen bodies have been recovered, bringing the official death toll to 37, although that figure is likely to rise sharply.

Rescue efforts have focused on the town of Aranayaka, located 60 miles northeast of Colombo, where three villages were buried late on Tuesday in the central district of Kegalle.

A.G Kamala, a resident of Siripura, one of the villages hit by the landslide, told the Associated Press that she heard "a huge sound like a plane crashing into the Earth."

"I opened my door," she said. "I could not believe my eyes, as I saw something like a huge fireball rolling down the mountain."

M. W. Dharmadasa told the AP that his wife, mother-in-law, son and daughter-in-law were all in his house in Siripura when the landslides hit. "I still can't locate my family," he said. "I still don't know what happened to them."

A 70-year old woman said that all nine of her children were "unaccounted for."

The following footage contains images that some viewers may find shocking.

"As at 1800 hours, 134 are still missing," Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, officer in charge of rescue operations in Aranayaka, told Reuters. "We have stopped the operations for the day since it's dark and the operation continued for over 20 hours. We will start again tomorrow morning."

More than 350 people were plucked to safety during rescue operations in landslide-affected areas early on Wednesday, officials said.

Troops using boats and helicopters also pulled more than 200 people to safety who were trapped in the northwestern coastal district of Puttalam, Jayaweera said.

Flooding and drought are cyclical in Sri Lanka, which is battered by a southern monsoon between May and September, while a northeastern monsoon runs from December to February. Heavy rains and flooding forced more than 300,000 people to leave their homes in December 2010 and January 2011. In 2014, monsoon rains triggered a landslide in Badulla, a landlocked agricultural district known for tea, vegetable and paddy cultivation. More than 100 people were killed.

The storm whose heavy rains have been battering Sri Lanka evolved into a tropical cyclone over the Bay of Bengal, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Due to warm waters, the so-called "Cyclone One" is expected to sustain current strength and make landfall in coastal Bangladesh, Burma, and India.

Follow VICE News on Twitter: @vicenews