Floods in east DRC claim 203 lives so far as search missions continue

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
6 May 2023 22:50

The administrator of one of the impacted regions says that an end estimate for casualties and damages cannot be determined yet.

Local residents make their way through a seriously damaged road following heavy rains that caused floods and landslides in the Democratic Republic of Congo on December 14, 2022. (Reuters)

Recent floods have left so far 203 people dead in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, an administrative official said Saturday, as the authorities recover more bodies from the impacted areas.

"Here in Bushushu, 203 bodies have already been removed from the rubble," said Thomas Bakenga, administrator of Kalehe territory, adding that it is yet not possible to estimate the overall damages and the total number of causalities.

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Rivers flooded the Bushushu and Nyamukubi villages of the Kalehe region of South Kivu province on Thursday after the area witnessed heavy rain. Bakenga also noted that the Thursday weekly market in Nyamukubi was hit by a landslide caused by the floods, adding that several villages fully went underwater, and many houses and farming fields were destroyed.

Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner who has a clinic in the Republic's capital Bukavu said on Saturday that he dispatched a team of surgeons, anesthetists, and technicians to the devastated region to "provide the population with emergency medical aid".

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Just two days ahead of the natural disaster in the DRC, 131 people lost their lives due to floods as well in neighboring Rwanda, in addition to the destruction of tens of homes.

UN Chief Antonio Guterres offered his condolences to the victims of the "catastrophic floods" in both African countries.

"This is yet another illustration of accelerating climate change and its disastrous impact on countries that have done nothing to contribute to global warming," he said during a visit to Burundi.