Floods, landslides claim 200 lives in DR Congo

BUKAVU, DR Congo — The death toll from floods and landslides in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has risen to 203 as more bodies are recovered, an administrative official said on Saturday.

The provisional death toll, announced late on Friday by the provincial governor, was at least 176 dead.

"Here in Bushushu, 203 bodies have already been removed from the rubble," said Thomas Bakenga, administrator of Kalehe territory, where the affected villages are located.

It was not possible to evaluate the full extent of the human losses and material damage, he said.

Heavy rainfall in the Kalehe region of South Kivu Province on Thursday caused rivers to overflow, causing landslides that engulfed the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi.

The hillside also gave way at Nyamukubi, where the weekly market was held on Thursday, Bakenga added.

In all, several villages were submerged, many houses washed away and fields devastated, when rivers in the region burst their banks due to the heavy rains.

Congolese doctor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, whose clinic is located in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, said on Saturday he had sent a team of surgeons, anesthetists and technicians to the area to "provide the population with emergency medical aid".

The disaster came two days after floods killed at least 131 people and destroyed thousands of homes in neighboring Rwanda.

Repair fund

Rwanda on Saturday said it had set aside nearly $100 million to repair damaged infrastructure.

More than 9,000 people were left homeless after rivers of mud swept through villages and cut off roads following heavy rain in several parts of the hilly East African nation.

Infrastructure Minister Ernest Nsabimana said 110 billion Rwandan francs ($98.5 million) had been set aside "to ensure that the new infrastructure is strong enough to withstand disasters such as floods and landslides".

"Work has already begun," he said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday offered his condolences to the victims of the "catastrophic floods" in Rwanda and DR Congo. "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.

Experts say extreme weather events are happening with increased frequency and intensity due to climate change.

Agencies Via Xinhua