Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter | At least 120 people have been killed and dozens injured as the devastating flood struck the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, one of Africa’s largest megacities with a population of about 15 million people, caused by the torrential rain on Tuesday December 13.
The entire neighborhood places are severely flooded with muddy water, and houses and roads ripped apart by sinkholes and landslides, including the N1 highway that connects Kinshasa to the country’s main sea port of Matadi.
The prime minister’s office said in a statement that the road could be closed for as long as four days.
There is a danger of increasing death toll. “The ministry had counted 141 dead but that the number needed to be cross-checked with other departments. Health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani Mbanda told the Reuters news agency.
The death toll was compiled by the General Management of Migration, a part of the interior ministry, and might rise further.
Some 12 million people live in the 24 neighborhoods of Kinshasa hit by the floods, according to three local officials. “The people had been killed, houses submerged and roads ruined,” reported by AP News Agency.
In the Ngaliema area, more than three dozen people died and bodies were still being counted, according to the area’s mayor, Alid’or Tshibanda.
The Congo’s prime minister, provincial governor visited the flooded areas around, also the local officials were expected to meet the interior ministry representatives to meet the emergency situation.
Displaced persons collect water after a previous flood in DR Congo: UNICEF/Patrick Brown
The UN chief is “deeply saddened” by the loss of life and heavy damage triggered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the worst floods to hit the country since 2019,” his spokesperson said on Wednesday December 14.
Rapid development and poor regulation have made the city increasingly vulnerable to flash floods after intense rains, which have become more frequent due to climate change.
