Survivors and volunteers have used their hands to dig up mud to search for missing people, and soldiers have been deployed to help rescue efforts in the West African nation.
According to initial estimates by the Red Cross Society, up to 3,000 people have lost their homes due to floods and landslides. This number is expected to continue to increase. Communications and power grid work are also affected.
The morgue at Connaught Hospital was overloaded, and the bodies had to be placed on the floor, forensic staff Sinneh Kamara said. At least 250 bodies have been brought to the morgue. This does not include people buried in their homes due to landslides while sleeping. Several other bodies are expected to be found as the floodwaters recede.
In an interview with the national broadcaster Sierra Leone, Sinneh Kamara suggested that the health agency deploy more ambulances to strengthen them along with the hospital's four ambulances.
Images on Vietnamese television show that people are searching for the bodies of their loved ones. Some people brought the dead's bodies to the morgue in rice bags.
The Sierra Leone Presidential Office issued a statement calling on residents to move to safer areas of Freetown and register at registration centers.
