1 dead, over 12,000 affected by bad weather in SL

Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre said that one person was killed with over 12,000 others were affected by heavy rain and gale-force winds in many parts of the country on Thursday.

The affected people belong to 2,672 families in Ratnapura, Kandy, Kalutara, Gampaha, Colombo and Matara districts, reports Xinhua news agency.

The worst affected district was Gampaha, where 8,517 people from 2,448 families had been affected, said Assistant Director at the Disaster Management Center Pradeep Kodippili.

The victim was a disaster relief officer who died after being carried away by strong currents.

Heavy rain was reported in many parts of the South Asian country in the past week.

The Department of Meteorology announced that showers or thundershowers will occur through this week and warned that the threat of floods will continue.