DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, flash floods have killed at least 176 people, a regional governor announced on Friday. The heavy rain results from the destruction of structures and the need for humanitarian personnel to gather dead bodies covered in mud.
Rivers in the Kalehe region of South Kivu province overflowed on Thursday, flooding the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi.
Théo Ngwabidje Kasi, the governor of South Kivu, reported 176 fatalities and warned that others were still missing. 227 bodies had been discovered, said Kasole Martin, a local civil society member.
“People are sleeping out in the open; schools and hospitals have been swept away,” stated Martin. On Friday, ragged-looking survivors waited outside a wooden shed where Red Cross volunteers wearing blue scrubs piled bodies on top of one another. Many were covered in mud and lacked clothing. A media reporter counted 72 dead bodies.
As photos showed, the corrugated iron roofs of the destroyed homes protruded from the tops of the deep mud.
Robert Masamba, a physician at Kalehe Territory’s primary hospital, reported that injured survivors had started to arrive since Thursday night.
“My team and I have not slept. We have received 56 patients, 80% of whom have fractures,” he said.
South Kivu, which borders Rwanda, frequently experiences floods and landslides. This week’s heavy rains also caused flooding and landslides in Rwanda, which resulted in the deaths of 130 people and the destruction of more than 5,000 homes.
Congo’s last incident of this size occurred in October 2014, when severe rains destroyed over 700 homes. At the time, the United Nations stated that more than 130 individuals were reported missing.
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