Local authorities in the Lubero region of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo reported 10 persons dead in a landslide overnight Wednesday, the latest victims of recent heavy rains that have killed hundreds in floods around the country.
According to Alain Kiwewa, the Lubero military administrator, a recent rain loosened the mud on a hill above a village in the Vuveyi Lac area, burying the victims as they slept in their homes below.
“As of the right moment, the remains are still buried. “Efforts are being made to dig them out,” he stated over the phone.
Last Thursday, flash floods swept through two communities in neighboring South Kivu province, burying people alive and dead in mud and debris. Attempts to recover the victims, however, have been hampered by a lack of resources.
As of Wednesday morning, Desire Yuma Machumu, the head of the South Kivu Red Cross, said that 426 people had been killed in the Kalehe floods and that around 1,000 more were missing.
The absence of sanitation poses a serious risk to survivors, he warned, and humanitarian workers expect to spend many weeks in the secluded alpine site preparing for a possible cholera pandemic.
According to UN climate experts, extreme weather, such as torrential rain, is becoming more regular and intense throughout Africa as a result of climate change, and these people are especially vulnerable due to poverty and a lack of infrastructure.
According to Theodore Lokakao Ilemba, a hydrology and meteorology specialist, recent heavy rains have raised the danger of flooding in the region.
“It’s all over the Congo and Rwanda, and it exacerbates (the impact of) rainfall and all pre-existing issues like water drainage and land use,” he said.
Floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains killed 130 people and wrecked over 5,000 homes in neighboring Rwanda last week.
