At least 100 killed as floods sweep DR Congo capital

Al Jazeera:

At least 100 people have been killed and dozens injured by widespread floods and landslides caused by heavy rains in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.

Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde said officials were still searching for more bodies. “We came to assess the damage and the primary damage we see is human,” he said on state television on Tuesday.

Once a collection of fishing villages on the banks of the Congo River, Kinshasa has grown into one of Africa’s largest megacities with a population of about 15 million.

Poorly regulated rapid urbanisation has made Kinshasa increasingly vulnerable to flash floods after intense rains, which have become more frequent due to climate change.

Some 12 million people live in the 24 neighbourhoods of Kinshasa hit by the floods, according to three local officials who told the AP news agency that people were killed, houses submerged and roads ruined.

In the Ngaliema area, more than three dozen people died and bodies were still being counted, said the area’s mayor, Alid’or Tshibanda.