Officials and media reports say at least 10 people have died in mudslides and floods triggered by heavy rains in Sri Lanka.

According to local television channel Sirasa, eight people died Friday in separate mudslides in the Kalutara district, south of the capital of Colombo, while police say two others died in Makola, on the outskirts of the capital after a wall collapsed.

Mudslides are common during the monsoon season in the Indian Ocean tropical island. Much of Sri Lanka has been heavily deforested for export crops such as tea and rubber, leaving the countryside exposed.

In May last year, more than 100 people died when they were buried in a massive landslide in central Sri Lanka.
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