DRC: Government delegation visits South Kivu after floods

2023-05-09T15:06:43.094Z

Highlights: The death toll from the Kalehe disaster in South Kivu has reached 411 dead and several missing, the exact number of whom is still not known. A delegation from the Congolese government arrived in the village of Nyamukubi. The delegation handed over food, tarpaulins, and an envelope to the victims to meet their basic needs. Rescue efforts continue to try to find the bodies of the missing although teams complain about the lack of adequate equipment. Some bodies are believed to have floated on the waters of Lake Kivi towards Idjwi Island.

The death toll from the Kalehe disaster in South Kivu has reached 411 dead and several missing, the exact number of whom is still not known. A delegation from the Congolese government arrived on site,...

DRC: Government delegation visits South Kivu after floods

Survivors walk among the debris after floods in Nyamukubi, South Kivu, May 8, 2023. © Justin Kabumba / AP

Text by: RFI Follow

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With our special envoy to Bushushu, William Basimike

As soon as they arrived, the delegation accompanied by the governor of South Kivu, Theo Ngwabidje, visited the Nyamukubi market and its surroundings ravaged by the waters of the Nyamukubi and Chishova rivers. They then went to hand over assistance to the sixty wounded interned at the hospital of Mwimbiri.

The delegation is composed of the Minister of State for Rural Development, François Rubota, his colleague for Humanitarian Affairs, Modeste Mutinga, and the Minister of Social Affairs, Claudine Ndusi.

The inhabitants of Kalehe took advantage of this presence to insist on their transfer to a secure place. They requested to be temporarily relocated to the site of Lwako airfield, which had been used to host Rwandan refugees in 1994. On behalf of President Felix Tshisekedi and the entire Congolese government, the delegation handed over food, tarpaulins, and an envelope to the victims to meet their basic needs.

Meanwhile, rescue efforts continue to try to find the bodies of the missing although teams complain about the lack of adequate equipment. Some bodies are believed to have floated on the waters of Lake Kivu towards Idjwi Island, while smells and traces of blood visible in some muddy places in Nyamukubi and Bushushu suggest that bodies are still trapped under the rubble in Kalehe.

► Read also: DRC: "The most immediate needs are shelters" after deadly floods, according to MSF

DRC: Government delegation visits South Kivu after floods

DRC: Government delegation visits South Kivu after floods

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