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Sri Lanka Mudslide Deaths Climb; More Expected

Rescue workers conduct a search at the site of a landslide at the Koslanda tea plantation near Haldummulla, October 30, 2014.
Rescue workers conduct a search at the site of a landslide at the Koslanda tea plantation near Haldummulla, October 30, 2014.

Hope dwindled Thursday for finding survivors of a mudslide in Sri Lanka that the government called the country's "biggest natural disaster" in a decade.

Fifteen people who lived on the Koslanda tea plantation in the country's Badulla district were confirmed dead after a wave of mud rushed into the village on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka Landslide Kills 10, Traps Hundreds

Sri Lankan mudslide survivors sit at a relief center set up in a school in Punagala in Badulla district, east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct.30, 2014.
1/9 Sri Lankan mudslide survivors sit at a relief center set up in a school in Punagala in Badulla district, east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct.30, 2014.
A Sri Lankan mudslide survivor who lost her two daughters is comforted by her father as she cries at a relief center set up in a school in Punagala in Badulla district, about 220 kilometers east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct.30, 2014.
2/9 A Sri Lankan mudslide survivor who lost her two daughters is comforted by her father as she cries at a relief center set up in a school in Punagala in Badulla district, about 220 kilometers east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct.30, 2014.
A Sri Lankan man navigates his way through mud and sludge caused by a mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in the Badulla district, about 220 kilometers east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct. 30, 2014.
3/9 A Sri Lankan man navigates his way through mud and sludge caused by a mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in the Badulla district, about 220 kilometers east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct. 30, 2014.
Villagers carry the body of a landslide victim at the Koslanda tea plantation in Badulla, about 220 kilometers east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
4/9 Villagers carry the body of a landslide victim at the Koslanda tea plantation in Badulla, about 220 kilometers east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
Sri Lankans stand at the site of a mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in the Badulla district, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
5/9 Sri Lankans stand at the site of a mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in the Badulla district, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
Rescue teams from the Sri Lankan military engage in a rescue operation at the site of a landslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in Badulla, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
6/9 Rescue teams from the Sri Lankan military engage in a rescue operation at the site of a landslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in Badulla, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
An earthmover clears debris caused by a mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in the Badulla district, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
7/9 An earthmover clears debris caused by a mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in the Badulla district, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
Sri Lankans walk past a damaged house at the site of a mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in the Badulla district, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
8/9 Sri Lankans walk past a damaged house at the site of a mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in the Badulla district, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
Sri Lankan men stand by their damaged house caused by a mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in the Badulla district, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
9/9 Sri Lankan men stand by their damaged house caused by a mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in the Badulla district, Sri Lanka, Oct. 29, 2014.
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Soldiers are continuing to dig through the debris for at least 100 missing residents.

Landslide warnings were issued for several districts as rain continued to saturate Sri Lanka on Thursday. The monsoon season runs from October through December.

Before this week, the worst natural disaster for the country was a 2004 tsunami that killed more than 30,000 people on the island.

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