More than 200 dead in Sierra Leone mudslides, official says

In this image made available by Society 4 Climate Change Communication, Sierra Leone, mud and water flow in Freetown Sierra Leone Monday Aug. 14, 2017. (Society 4 Climate Change Communication via AP)

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – Relatives dug through the mud in search of their loved ones and a morgue overflowed with bodies Monday after heavy rains and flooding early in the day killed at least 200 people in Sierra Leone's capital.

Bodies were spread out on the floor of a morgue, Sinneh Kamara, a coroner technician at the Connaught Hospital mortuary, told the national broadcaster.

"The capacity at the mortuary is too small for the corpses," he told the Sierra Leone National Broadcasting Corp.

In this image made available by Society 4 Climate Change Communication, Sierra Leone, mud and water cascades near houses in Freetown, Sierra Leone Monday Aug. 14, 2017. (Society 4 Climate Change Communication via AP)

Kamara urged the health department to deploy more ambulances, saying his mortuary only has four.

Sierra Leone's national television broadcaster interrupted its regular programming to show scenes of people trying to retrieve their loved ones' bodies. Others were seen carting relatives' remains in rice sacks to the morgue.

In this image made available by Society 4 Climate Change Communication, Sierra Leone, mud and water cascades down the side on a hill in Freetown, Sierra Leone Monday Aug. 14, 2017. (Society 4 Climate Change Communication via AP)

Military personnel have been deployed to help in the rescue operation currently ongoing, officials said.

Many of the impoverished areas of Sierra Leone's capital are close to sea level and have poor drainage systems, exacerbating flooding during the West African country's rainy season.