Sri Lanka closes offices and schools as death toll from landslides and floods rises to 56

Sri Lanka closed government offices and schools Friday as the death toll from floods and landslides across the country rose to 56 while more than 600 houses were damaged, officials said

Sri Lanka closed government offices and schools Friday as the death toll from floods and landslides across the country rose to 56 while more than 600 houses were damaged, officials said.

Sri Lanka began grappling with severe weather last week and the conditions worsened Thursday with heavy downpours that flooded homes, fields and roads, and triggered landslides across the country.

More than 25 people were killed Thursday in landslides in the central mountainous tea-growing regions of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya, which is about 186 miles east of the capital, Colombo. Another 21 people were missing and 14 were injured in the Badulla and Nuwara Eliya areas, according to the government’s disaster management center.

A man carries an umbrella amid rainfall in Colombo on Thursday.Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP via Getty ImagesOthers died in landslides in different parts of the country.

As the weather conditions grew worse, the government announced the closing of all government offices and schools on Friday.