THE government has been accused of abandoning British citizens left stranded by severe flooding in Sri Lanka.
Melanie Watters, 54, and Janine Reid, 55, were on holiday in the South Asian country struck by Cyclone Ditwah.
The friends were being driven through mountains near Kandy when their car was swept into a ditch on Thursday.
They spent the night in the water-filled vehicle before being saved by local Sri Lankans at a nearby tea plantation.
Relatives have been struggling to reach them through broken phone signal to help bring them home to London.
Melanie’s worried son-in-law Henry Beeching, 36, blasted the “abhorrent” lack of response from the UK Foreign Office.
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The ex-Royal Engineer and his former civil servant wife Katie, 37, contacted the FCDO but “received nothing back”.
They claim a member of staff eventually insisted “it isn’t our responsibility” and revealed workers had already gone home for the weekend on Friday.
Henry said: “We’ve been failed by the system we both previously served in. My wife is nine months pregnant and having to deal with finding her missing mum.
“Our understanding is there’s no plan in Whitehall for any assistance or personnel to help thousands of British expats stuck in Sri Lanka.
“I’m ex-military and have been forced to draw up a plan based on the Kabul airlift from Afghanistan utilising our own network of contacts.
“If it wasn’t for us, they would have died running out of food and water.
“They’re only being kept alive by the kindness of friends and locals.
“Other nations have carried out evacuations. India even rescued someone’s pet.
“Yet our government is completely sitting on their own hands.
“This is a real embarrassment on a global stage.”
Henry, who lives near ReadingBerks, eventually managed to work out Melanie was stuck in Pussellawa from a picture she sent home of a nearby petrol station.
The family hope to help get her and friend Janine to the capital of Colombo so they can safely fly them back home to the UK.
Sri Lanka’s biggest national disaster in two decades already has a death toll of 465 – with another storm set to hit on Thursday.
More than 100 millimetres of rainfall was expected across Sri Lanka last week, with some areas in the northeast forecast to be deluged with 250 millimetres of rain.
Footage captured by residents shows flood waters taking over entire towns and cities.
Cars were seen submerged under water, and trees uprooted.
Footage also showed a car being swept away by floodwaters near the eastern town of Ampara, about 256 miles east of Colombo, leaving three passengers dead.
One clip showed a strong torrent of water flowing out of what appears to be a dam, likely because the reservoir overflowed.
Large parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand have been stricken by cyclone-fuelled torrential rain.
Reservoirs and rivers have overflowed, blocking roads.
The FCDO was approached for comment.