Sri Lanka floods leave 600,000 people displaced

Widespread flooding and devastating mudslides in Sri Lanka have killed at least 202 people and displaced more than half a million, the government has said.The state-run Disaster Management Center said around 600,000 people remained temporarily homeless on Wednesday following last Friday's landslides and floods.Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez, reporting from Matara, around 160km south of the capital Colombo, said aid agencies were struggling to distribute fresh food to rural areas.

"In the capital, shops and supermarkets are running out of supplies as people are coming in and hoovering up items," she said."While waters are receding in some areas, there are still some parts that are 10 to 12 feet under water." Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake said 16 countries had sent medicines and relief supplies to assist those driven from their homes."We also have a lot of enquiries from other countries and organisations wanting to know our immediate needs. We are moved by the spontaneous response," Karunanayake told reporters.