10 More People Die in Landslides in DRC

DRC is filled with sadness after ten people died in a landslide in Miringati village Lubero territory in North Kivu province eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday night. Local authorities now saying that there have been many incidents following the heavy downpour experienced in that region. Over 400 people were killed last week in South Kivu, according to an official toll, after disastrous flooding in   Kalehe territory. 

The heavy rains are said to have loosened the earth’s surface on a hillside above a village in the Vuveyi Lac area, burying the victims as they slept in their houses below, said Alain Kiwewa, Lubero’s military administrator.

“As of now, the bodies are still under the ground. Work is underway to get them out,” he said by phone.

Over 400 people were killed last week in South Kivu, according to an official toll, after disastrous flooding in the province's Kalehe territory. One other person was also killed on Monday in a landslide at an artisanal mine in Rubaya, in North Kivu. 

President Felix Tshisekedi declared on Monday a day of national mourning to mark the disaster as the death toll continues to increase with approximately 1,000 people still missing.

Meteorology and Hydrology engineer Theodore Lokakao Ilemba said that repeated recent downpours have also raised the water table, increasing the likelihood of flooding.