The number of fatalities from the floods in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to almost 400, reports news agency AFP. On Saturday, this number was still more than two hundred. The death toll is expected to rise further as recovery efforts in the area progress.
The disaster occurred on Thursday after heavy rains in the Kalehe region of South Kivu province. Rivers overflowed their banks, causing flooding and landslides that severely affected the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi. Buildings and houses in the villages were covered in mud. There was also heavy damage to fields and grains.
The death toll may have risen further because emergency aid is slow to get started, partly due to the heavy damage to infrastructure. According to the BBC residents of the affected villages would dig into the mud with their hands to find missing relatives. In addition, there would be a shortage of body bags.
It has been raining for days around Lake Kivu, in eastern DR Congo. A few days before the disaster, a natural disaster occurred on the other side of the lake in Rwanda, where 131 people died due to flooding. In April, 20 people were killed in North Kivu, a province bordering South Kivu, also from landslides caused by heavy rains.