Over 200 Dead, Many Missing after Flash Floods In Congo

According to local officials in the province of South Kivu, the death toll from flash floods and landslides in eastern Congo has surpassed 200, with many more people still missing.

The worst-hit region of Kalehe's administrator, Thomas Bakenge, told reporters on the ground on Saturday that 203 dead had so far been found, but that search attempts for more were ongoing. Rescuers and survivors searched through the rubble of the village of Nyamukubi, where hundreds of homes were washed away, on Saturday in search of further bodies under the muck.

In front of some of the dead that had been found thus far, which were lying on the grass and covered in muddy clothes next to a rescue worker station, the villagers gathered and mourned. Anuarite Zikujuwa, a grieving survivor, said that she had lost all of her family members, including her in-laws, as well as many of her neighbours. The entire community has become a wasteland. We can't even identify where our property used to be; all that's left are the stones," she remarked.