Let it run for 3 seconds without Scores of houses used to stand here but this is all that's left. Authorities say residents were asleep when part of a hillside in Regent -- east of Freetown -- collapsed in the early hours of Monday morning. Houses are submerged -- and roads have become churning rivers of mud. Hundreds of bodies have been recovered but many people remain unaccounted for. Rescue operations are ongoing but some people have taken it upon themselves to track down missing relatives.

 

AL-SHEIK KAMARA OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, SIERRA LEONE POLICE FORCE "Because, this kind of slide that we are experiencing now is so unfortunate, and a lot of lives have been lost here, so we have called on the police to cut off the area so that we can call in rescue workers." The president has called for calm, describing the situation as a national emergency.

 

ERNEST BAI KOROMA PRESIDENT, SIERRA LEONE "Let me assure you that my government is fully engaged on this situation and in collaboration with our development partners we have already established an emergency response centre at Regent to coordinate our response and to provide relief to the survivors." The natural disaster has left around 2-thousand people homeless. It is expected billions of dollars will be needed to repair the damage.