Dozens killed in eastern DR Congo floods

FILE PHOTO: Forty-six people have died in heavy flooding that struck the town of Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo./AFP

Forty-six people have died in heavy flooding that struck the town of Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, destroying thousands of homes, local officials said on Tuesday, warning the tally could be much higher.

"The updated toll is 30 dead, but it's still very provisional as there are still people trapped in the rubble" of their homes, deputy mayor Kapenda Kyky Kifara told AFP.

"It will take weeks to find people who are unaccounted for," he said.

The territory's administrator, Alexis Rashidi Kasangala, said 16 deaths were recorded while 3,600 homes were destroyed on the outskirts of the town.

The UN's High Commissioner for Refugees, in a press conference from Geneva conducted over the internet, said 15,000 homes had been damaged and around 80,000 people had been affected.

Uvira is located in South Kivu province, bordering Lake Tanganyika, connected by road to the provincial capital Bukavu.

The region has been pounded by heavy rain in recent weeks, causing the three rivers running through Uvira to burst their banks. The toll last Friday stood at 24.

The UNHCR is working with local authorities and its partners to help victims, its spokesman, Andrej Mahecic, said, noting that the region has been struggling for years with conflict and poor security.

Source(s): AFP