People wade through water in suburban areas of Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 23, 2018. The death toll from high winds and rains which lashed out across Sri Lanka since Saturday reached eight on Tuesday while over 38,000 people were affected, the Disaster Management Center said in its latest update. (Xinhua/Gayan Sameera)
COLOMBO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the adverse weather conditions in Sri Lanka rose to 11 on Wednesday, a spokesman here said.
Spokesman for the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre (DMC), Pradeep Kodippili told Xinhua on Wednesday that five of these deaths were caused by lightning strikes.
The spokesman said the other deaths were caused by incidents such as drowning in floodwaters, tree falls and earth-slips.
According to Kodippili, heavy rain lashed through Sri Lanka from May 20, causing flashfloods and mini landslides.
In addition to these 10 deaths, Kodippili said over 105,000 people had been affected by the inclement weather conditions prevailing in the country.
He said 43,000 of these affected people had been housed at welfare camps at the moment.
