In the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa, catastrophic floods and landslides brought on by torrential rain have resulted in at least 120 fatalities and hundreds more injuries.
Sinkholes and landslides destroyed homes and highways, notably the N1 highway that connects Kinshasa to the nation’s principal sea port of Matadi. Entire neighborhoods were inundated with murky water.
The route may be closed for up to four days, according to a statement from the office of the prime minister.
The General Management of Migration, a division of the interior ministry, has recorded a death toll that may increase.
Jean-Jacques Mbungani Mbanda, the health minister, told the newsmen that the government had tallied 141 fatalities but that the figure needed to be verified with other departments.
With a population of about 15 million, Kinshasa has developed from a cluster of fishing villages on the banks of the Congo River into one of Africa’s biggest megacities.
The city has become more susceptible to flash floods during heavy rains, which have become more common as a result of climate change, due to rapid urbanisation and lax regulation.
Social media users posted pictures of a landslide in the steep Mont-Ngafula district that closed down Highway 1 and swamped entire neighborhoods with murky water.
“We’ve never seen a flood here on this scale,” Blanchard Mvubu, who lives in Mont-Ngafula, told reporters at the scene.
“I was asleep, and I could feel water in the house … it’s a disaster. We’ve lost all our possessions in the house, nothing could be saved.”
A young man nearby was carrying people over the submerged street on his shoulders for 500 Congolese francs ($0.24).
A second man, who claimed to be a teacher, was wading through the water barefoot while holding a pair of shoes in one hand and a plastic bag filled with paperwork in the other.
The interior ministry and other state organisations were set to meet with local officials to discuss the emergency while the prime minister and province governor were in the affected districts.
When low-lying areas of Kinshasa were inundated by torrential rains in 2019 and several structures and roads collapsed, at least 39 people perished.
According to a 2020 World Bank document, floods in Kinshasa costs households a combined $1.2m per day because to the significant disruption of transportation, in addition to the damage to infrastructure.