Cyclone Ditwah Exits Sri Lanka Leaving Behind Trail Of Devastation; Death Toll At 123

Cyclone Ditwah on Saturday exited Sri Lanka that left more than 120 dead, amid a trail of destruction and damage to infrastructure, entering the south Indian coastal line, meteorological officials said.

"We noticed Ditwah exiting Sri Lanka and heading towards the Indian coast," Athula Karunanayake, director general of the meteorology department, told reporters.

"However, its indirect impact with heavy rains and high speed winds will remain for some time," he added.

The official death toll at 9 a.m. was 123 while 130 remain missing, according to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC).

The figure is expected to be much higher as severely affected areas suffer communication breakdown due to bad weather which has hampered verification of the impact from the disaster.

Prabath Abeywardena, chief district administrator of Badulla in the Central Province, said 49 deaths and 41 missing have been verified in the district so far.

"Several areas remain inaccessible with contact difficulties," he said.

Thushari Tennakoon, chief administrator from the Central Province of Nuwara Eliya, said since Thursday no information had been coming from most areas in the district. She said more than 50 deaths have occurred in the district.

The Sri Lankan Army said some 68 people trapped on a bus in the Northwestern Province’s Kalaoya area were rescued by the navy early on Saturday morning in an operation which lasted several hours.

They had spent 29 hours on the bus roof after the vehicle plunged was into water by speeding flood waves and remained stuck on a bridge.

The Indian Air Force has deployed two transport aircraft — C-130 and IL-76 -- carrying paramilitary personnel and relief material as part of India's humanitarian assistance extended to Sri Lanka under Operation Sagar Bandhu.

New Delhi launched Operation Sagar Bandhu to assist Sri Lanka in its hour of crisis in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah.