Dozens of people are feared trapped after a mudslide near Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.

A hillside in the Regent area collapsed early on Monday following heavy rains, the BBC’s Umaru Fofana says, leaving many houses completely covered in mud.

Our reporter, who is at the scene, says many people may have been caught asleep when the mudslide occurred.

Officials say it is too early to give any estimate of casualty numbers.

Images posted on the social media site Twitter show people wading through streets waist-deep in muddy water following the downpour in and around Freetown.

Emergency services are at the scene trying to rescue people trapped in their homes after a section of a hill collapsed, the Sierra Leone Telegraph reports.

Flooding is not unusual in Sierra Leone, where unsafe housing is regularly swept away by heavy rains.

In 2015, Freetown endured deadly floods sparked by monsoon rains that killed 10 people and left thousands more homeless.

SOURCE:   http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40926187