A national drama. On Thursday, heavy rains in South Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, caused extensive flooding and landslides. The latest assessment, communicated Sunday by an administrative official, reports at least 394 dead, whose bodies have been found. This official, Thomas Bakenga, administrator of the Kalehe territory, in which the affected villages are located, had reported Saturday at least 203 dead.
"We are now at more than 390 bodies found. 142 in Bushushu, 132 in Nyamukubi and 120 have just been found floating on Lake Kivu" at the island of Idjwi, said Thomas Bakenga Sunday afternoon. "Since Thursday, we have been finding bodies every minute and burying them," he added. Several villages were submerged, many houses swept away, fields devastated, when rivers burst their banks under the effect of torrential rains.
"Illustration of accelerating climate change"
On the spot, the victims lack everything. According to Thomas Bakenga, "the provincial government gave assistance: a boat full of food (beans, flour), tarpaulins, medicines... ». At the end of Friday's cabinet meeting, Kinshasa announced the sending of a "government mission to support the provincial government in the management of this disaster". He declared a day of national mourning on Monday.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) also said it had dispatched an emergency team to the scene on Saturday. The disaster came two days after floods killed at least 131 people and destroyed thousands of homes in neighbouring Rwanda. UN chief Antonio Guterres stressed Saturday during a visit to Burundi that it was "a new illustration of an acceleration of climate change and its dramatic consequences for countries that are not involved in global warming" of the planet.
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- World
- UN
- Flood
- Landslide