Floods kill 120 in DR Congo’s capital

• At least 120 people have died and scores have been injured in floods.
• Entire neighborhoods were inundated.
• Buildings and roads were ripped apart by sinkholes and landslides.

At least 120 people have died and scores have been injured in floods and landslides in Kinshasa, DRC.

Entire neighborhoods were inundated, and buildings and roads were ripped apart by sinkholes and landslides, including the N1 motorway that connects Kinshasa to Matadi.

The route might be closed for four days, the prime minister’s office stated.

The death toll, gathered by the interior ministry’s General Management of Migration, may grow.

Health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani Mbanda told Reuters the government counted 141 fatalities but needed to cross-check with other departments.

Kinshasa, once a collection of fishing villages on the Congo River, has 15 million people.

Rapid development and weak regulation have made the city vulnerable to flash floods during strong rains, which have increased due to climate change.

Three local officials told AP that 12 million people reside in the 24 Kinshasa neighborhoods devastated by the floodwaters. They said people were murdered, buildings were inundated, and roads were destroyed.

Ngaliema’s mayor, Alid’or Tshibanda, said bodies were still being counted.

Social media images revealed a landslide in Mont-Ngafula cutting off Highway 1 and flooding entire neighborhoods.

Blanchard Mvubu, a Mont-Ngafula resident, told an AFP reporter, “We’ve never seen a flood this big.”

“I was sleeping until I heard water… Disaster. Nothing in the house was salvageable.

A young man charged 500 Congolese francs ($0.24) to ferry people across the flooded street.

Another man, a teacher, was strolling barefoot in the river with shoes in one hand and documents in the other.

“I’m stuck,” he said. “I must test students”

The prime minister and province governor visited flooded areas, while local officials met with interior ministry and state officials to resolve the problem.

At least 39 people perished in Kinshasa in 2019 from flooding and collapsed houses and roads.

According to a 2020 World Bank study, flooding in Kinshasa costs households $1.2m per day due to transportation disruptions.

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