Entire neighborhoods were submerged in muddy water in the early hours of Tuesday morning
At least 55 people died today Tuesday in Kinshasa from floods and landslides caused by the heavy rains of the previous hours in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Entire neighborhoods were submerged in muddy water in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Among the victims are nine members of the same family, among them small children. An AFP journalist saw the bodies lined up after they were pulled from the rubble of a collapsed house.
“Around 4 in the morning, we woke up to the water entering the house,” said a relative of the victims. “Having drained the water, believing that there was no longer any danger, we returned home to sleep. We were soaked.” A little later, however, a wall collapsed, crushing members of the family.
One of the worst hit settlements is Mont Engafula. “We have never seen a flood of this magnitudesays AFP reporter Blanchard Embubu, who lives in the area. But he explains that due to the haphazard construction, rainwater does not find a way out to the Congo River, resulting in frequent flooding in the area. He asks the authorities to intervene and demolish some houses if necessary.
In another neighborhood of the capital, a teenager offered – with compensation – to carry on his back those who wanted to cross a flooded street.
Prime Minister Jean-Michel Chama Luconde visited some of the affected districts of the capital, while a meeting was held at the Ministry of the Interior to deal with the state of emergency.
From the scattered fishing villages on the banks of the Congo River, the capital Kinshasa was gradually formed, which over the years developed into a metropolis of 15 million inhabitants. The area remains vulnerable to floods and landslides due to haphazard construction.
The 2019 about 40 people they had found death in floods and landslides caused by torrential rains in Kinshasa.
RES-EMP
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