The hours-long rainfall in the district of Kananga in Kasai Central province destroyed many houses
Flooding triggered by heavy rains in central Congo killed at least 22 people, including 10 from the same family, a local official said Tuesday.
The hours-long rainfall in the district of Kananga in Kasai Central province destroyed many houses and structures, the province's governor, John Kabeya, said as rescue efforts intensified in search of survivors.
Five more deaths were confirmed later on Tuesday in addition to the initially reported death toll of 17, he said.
"The collapse of a wall caused 10 deaths, all members of the same family in Bikuku," said Kabeya. There was significant material damage caused by the floods, according to Nathalie Kambala, country director of The Hand in Hand for Integral Development non-governmental organization.
Flooding caused by heavy rainfall is frequent in parts of Congo, especially in remote areas. In May, more than 400 people died in floods and landslides brought on by torrential overnight rains in eastern Congo's South Kivu province.
Among the structures damaged in the latest flooding was the Higher Institute of Technology of Kananga, as well as a church and a major road that was cut off, said Kabeya, who added that urgent action would be requested from the national government.
Heavy rains triggered a landslide in eastern Congo late Sunday, killing at least four people and leaving at least 20 missing.
At least 40 more people have died in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local authorities said, after heavy downpours overnight Tuesday unleashed floods and landslides that left residents digging through the mud to find bodies.
In the city of Bukavu, onlookers gathered to watch on Wednesday as a group of men hauled a car out of the mud to recover a woman's body from underneath, a Reuters witness said.
At least 20 people died in Bukavu and at least 20 more were killed in the village of Burinyi, 50 kilometers from Bukavu, according to officials in the two places.
Bukavu resident Yvonne Mukupi, who was able to stay clear of the deluge, said her neighbor was swept away by the flood waters.
"We have managed to recover three bodies under the trees, but others have not been found yet," she said.
Poor urban planning and weak infrastructure make communities like Mukupi's more vulnerable to extreme rainfall, which is becoming more intense and frequent in Africa because of warming temperatures, according to United Nations climate experts.
"When rain falls, the main waterway gets clogged sometimes because of the waste, so it gets flooded and it affects the houses," Bukavu official Emmanuel Majivuno Kalimba told Reuters at the scene, as residents worked to salvage belongings from their damaged homes.
The overnight devastation follows the deaths of at least 22 people in Kasai-Central province on Tuesday when a landslide swallowed houses, churches and roads, killing entire families and leaving people homeless.
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