More Than 200 Dead, Several Missing After Congo Floods

The death toll from flash floods and landslides in the Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to over 203 with several people missing, as per a report in CBS News citing an administrative official. Thomas Bakenga, the administrator of Kalehe territory, said, "Here in Bushushu, 203 bodies have already been removed from the rubble."

On Thursday, the rainfall in Kalehe territory in South Kivu province caused rivers to overflow, inundating the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi. 

In Nyamukubi, where the weekly market was conducted on Thursday, the hillside also collapsed, Mr Bakenga informed.

As per the outlet, numerous villages were drowned, many homes were washed away and farms were damaged when rivers in the area burst their banks due to the heavy rains. 

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege announced on Saturday that he had dispatched a group of surgeons, anaesthetists and technicians to the region to "provide the population with emergency medical aid." His clinic is located in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.

It is to be noted that 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 death of 130 people and the destruction of more than five thousand homes.

As per CBS News, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres offered his condolences to the people who had been affected by the "catastrophic floods" in Rwanda and Congo. "This is yet another illustration of accelerating climate change and its disastrous impact on countries that have done nothing to contribute to global warming," he said during a visit to Burundi.

Over 700 dwellings were destroyed by severe rains in Congo's last instance of this magnitude in October 2014. At the time, the United Nations stated that more than 130 individuals were reported missing.