DHAKA: At least 10 people are dead and hundreds are missing following a landslide in central Sri Lanka.

Disaster officials tell the BBC.

The landslide, which came after heavy monsoon rains, engulfed about 140 houses in Badulla district, officials said.

Security forces have been mobilised in search and rescue operations.

Mudslide warnings were issued after much of Sri Lanka was lashed by heavy rain in the past few weeks.

The mudslide hit the Meeriyabedda tea plantation near the town of Haldummulla, about 200 km east of the capital Colombo, on Wednesday at 07:30 local time (02:30 GMT).

Ten people have been confirmed dead and more than 300 are missing, Disaster Management Centre spokesman Sarath Kumara told the BBC.

The weather has now cleared and army, air force and police personnel are searching for survivors, the BBC’s South Asia correspondent Sanjoy Majumder reports.

However, military officials say rescue efforts are being hampered by fog in the area.

BDST: 1631 HRS, OCT 29, 2014