Death Toll From East DR Congo Floods Reach 400

The death toll from floods that devastated two villages in east Democratic Republic of Congo has reached 401.

Provincial governor, Theo Kasi said the flood had become one of the deadliest natural disasters in the country’s recent history.

At least 176 people were reported dead on Friday as humanitarian workers dug through the remains of the flattened villages to recover mud-caked bodies from the debris with hundreds of people still missing.

The villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi in Kalehe territory, South Kivu province, were inundated on Thursday after days of torrential rain triggered landslides and caused rivers to break their banks.

Local civil society sources said more bodies were being recovered on Monday, adding to the scores of others that were wrapped in bags and piled into mass graves over the weekend.

The central government in Kinshasa has not yet communicated a death toll but has sent a delegation to Kalehe and declared Monday a day of national mourning.

The United Nations’ humanitarian agency OCHA said on Sunday that at least 270 deaths had been confirmed so far with more than 300 people still unaccounted for, while around 3,000 families have lost their homes.

According to United Nations climate experts warming temperatures due to climate change are increasing the intensity and frequency of Africa’s rains, adding this could increase the destruction wrought by the floods and landslides that were already common in South Kivu.

They say added to that, poor urban planning and weak infrastructure also make it more vulnerable to such events.

More than 8,800 people have been affected by the floods in Congo, according to the Congolese Red Cross that said of the 274 people buried so far, 98 were women and 82 were children.