Sri Lanka, Dec. 24 -- Senior Professor Wasantha Athukorala of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Peradeniya University stated that 2,180 natural disaster incidents have been recorded over the past five years, resulting in nearly 318,000 deaths worldwide.

He emphasised that, on average, between 40,000 and 50,000 people worldwide die annually from natural disasters.

The Professor made these remarks while addressing the media at the Peradeniya University on Monday (22).

He noted that between 400 and 500 natural disasters are reported each year globally.

Prof. Athukorala clarified that these figures account for natural calamities such as floods, earthquakes, storms, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, glacier melts, landslides, ...