FILE- In this Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017 file photo, volunteers handle a coffin during a mass funeral for victims of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent at a cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Churches across Sierra Leone held special services Sunday, Aug. 20 in memory of the more than 450 people who were killed in mudslides and flooding earlier this week. (AP Photo/Manika Kamara, file)
The Associated Press
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) - Churches across Sierra Leone held special services Sunday in memory of those killed in mudslides and flooding earlier this week, as hospital officials announced the toll had risen to nearly 500 bodies collected.
More than 600 people remain missing and rescue officials have warned that the chances of finding survivors are decreasing each day. The death toll earlier stood at 450.
The Inter-Religious Council called for the services to be held Sunday in honor of the deceased, as special prayers and recitals were offered in mosques Friday and Sunday.
The preacher at Buxton Memorial Methodist Church in Freetown, the capital, offered a sermon that looked at mankind's contribution to the disaster, as a gospel band rendered the song "Papa God Sorry for Salone (Sierra Leone)."
Large-scale-burials have taken place all this week amid rainy weather that threatened further mudslides.
The government of the impoverished West African nation in recent days has warned residents to evacuate a mountainside where a large crack has opened. Thousands of people live in areas at risk and the main focus is making sure they leave before further disaster, authorities have told local media.
Aid groups are providing clean water as a health crisis looms.
"Water sources have been contaminated" and that officials "fear for an outbreak of waterborne diseases," said Saidu Kanu, country director for World Hope International.
Foreign aid from the rest of the world is being sent to Freetown, said authorities.
___
Associated Press journalist Lekan Oyekanmi contributed to this report.
FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 file photo, volunteers stand at the scene of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent, just outside of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown. Churches across Sierra Leone held special services Sunday, Aug. 20 in memory of the more than 450 people who were killed in mudslides and flooding earlier this week. (AP Photo/Kabba Kargbo, file)
The Associated Press
FILE- In this Tuesday, Aug.15, 2017 file photo, volunteers search for bodies from the scene of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent, just outside of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown. Survivors picking through the debris of Sierra Leone's deadly mudslides are facing the reality that most, if not all, of the estimated 600 people missing are dead. (AP Photo/ Manika Kamara, File)
The Associated Press
Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma, second from right, attends a mass funeral for victims of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent at a cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. The government has begun burying the hundreds of people killed earlier this week in mudslides in Sierra Leone's capital, and it warned Thursday of new danger from a large crack that has opened on a mountainside where residents were told to evacuate. (AP Photo/ Manika Kamara)
The Associated Press
Volunteers prepare to bury coffins during a mass funeral for victims of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent at a cemetery in Sierra Leone, Freetown, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. The government has begun burying the hundreds of people killed earlier this week in mudslides in Sierra Leone's capital, and it warned Thursday of new danger from a large crack that has opened on a mountainside where residents were told to evacuate. (AP Photo/Manika Kamara )
The Associated Press
Volunteers bury coffins during a mass funeral for victims of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent at a cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. The government has begun burying the hundreds of people killed earlier this week in mudslides in Sierra Leone's capital, and it warned Thursday of new danger from a large crack that has opened on a mountainside where residents were told to evacuate. (AP Photo/Manika Kamara)
The Associated Press
Volunteers handle a coffin during a mass funeral for victims of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent at a cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. The government has begun burying the hundreds of people killed earlier this week in mudslides in Sierra Leone's capital, and it warned Thursday of new danger from a large crack that has opened on a mountainside where residents were told to evacuate. (AP Photo/ Manika Kamara)
The Associated Press