国际英语新闻:Death toll of mudslide disaster in Sierra Leone rises to 499

FREETOWN, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Bodies recovered from the mudslide and flooding on Aug. 14 in Sierra Leone have totalled 499, local media reported on Sunday.

Victims included 162 male, 163 female, 70 boys and 86 girls and an additional 18, Awoko Newspaper reported.

The side of a hill collapsed in heavy rains in the early hours of Aug. 14, killing residents and destroying homes near or on the outskirts of Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, and leaving more than 2,000 others homeless.

Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma on Tuesday declared seven days of mourning across the country with immediate effect.

Humanitarian aids are coming in from countries including China and Ghana for the people affected by the disaster.

According to the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone, in addition to donations from local Chinese companies and organizations, the Chinese government had decided to provide emergency humanitarian aid of one million U.S. dollars to the Sierra Leonean government.

Ghana has also mobilized relief items valued at one million U.S. dollars for victims of the flood and mudslide disaster in Sierra Leone.