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Sri Lankans besiege office, demand flood aid
Residents briefly besieged a government office in flood-hit eastern Sri Lanka on Monday, accusing officials of holding back food and other aid intended for people affected by the flooding.
Residents briefly besieged a government office in flood-hit eastern Sri Lanka on Monday, accusing officials of holding back food and other aid intended for people affected by the flooding.
More than 1,000 people surrounded the office in the village of Ariyampathy in Batticaloa district. They broke windows and held the office staff indoors until police intervened.
Residents said they found that relief goods for nearly 4,000 people _ including rice, flour, milk powder, tents and stoves _ had not yet been distributed. The protesters dispersed after police promised the goods would be distributed.
Floods and mudslides in the country over the past several days have killed 40 people and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Four people are reported missing.
With waters largely receding, many displaced people left relief camps and classes resumed at schools that had been temporary shelters.
About 58,000 people of more than 300,000 displaced at the peak of the disaster remained in camps on Monday.
But some complained they were asked to leave the camps when they had nowhere to go with their houses destroyed.
