Death toll from Sri Lanka floods, landslides rises to 334

The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose sharply to 334 on Sunday (Nov 30), Sri Lanka's disaster agency said on Sunday, with many more still missing.

It is the worst natural disaster to hit the island in two decades, and officials said the extent of damage in the worst-affected central region was only just being revealed as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said the death toll had risen to 334, up from 212 earlier on Sunday, with nearly 400 missing and more than 1.3 million people across the island affected by the record rains.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who declared a state of emergency to deal with the disaster, vowed to build back with international support. "We are facing the largest and most challenging natural disaster in our history," he said in an address to the nation. "Certainly, we will build a better nation than what existed before."

The losses and damage are the worst since the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami that killed around 31,000 people and left more than a million homeless.