Human consequences
More than a thousand dead and missing, many of them children; more than 3,000 people lose their homes.
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Avalanche & landslideFreetown mudslide
1,141Deaths
3,000Displaced / homeless
Not quantifiedEstimated cost
- More than 1,100 dead and missing; the exact toll remains unknown.
After three days of torrential rain, part of Sugar Loaf mountain collapses at dawn onto the Regent neighbourhoods on the edge of the capital, burying hundreds of homes while their residents sleep.
Consequences
Environmental consequences
Deforestation of the hills and uncontrolled building on the slopes had weakened the ground.
Economic consequences
A country still reeling from the 2014 – 2016 Ebola epidemic faces a new tragedy.
Political consequences
The government promises to rehouse residents of high-risk areas and to fight illegal building on the hills, with limited results.
Further reading
Similar disasters
- Kolka Glacier collapseAvalanche & landslide · Russia2002
- Plateau d’Assy disasterAvalanche & landslide · France1970
- Val-d’Isère avalancheAvalanche & landslide · France1970
- “White Friday” avalanchesAvalanche & landslide · Italy (Austro-Italian front)1916
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