Death toll from cyclone in Sri Lanka climbs to 153

Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Center (DMC) on Saturday evening said 153 people have died due to floods and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah, reported Xinhua.

A total of 191 people are still missing as search and relief operations intensify across multiple districts, the DMC said.

The DMC said 774,724 people from 217,263 families across all districts have been affected by heavy rains, flooding, and landslides. It added that many areas remain inaccessible, complicating rescue efforts and relief distribution.

It also said that 100,898 people from 27,494 families are currently staying in 798 evacuation centers.

As communication disruptions continue to hinder coordination in some of the hardest-hit regions, Sri Lanka's telecommunications operators have agreed to prioritize emergency calls to reduce network congestion and improve response capacity, the President's Media Division said.

The weather is expected to improve from Sunday.