Monsoon rains in East Africa have also claimed lives in Uganda, where six people died in a landslide caused by torrential rains in the southwestern Kisoro district, close to the Rwandan border.
More than 100 people have died in northern and western Rwanda in floods caused by heavy monsoon rains that ravaged East Africa, the Rwanda Broadcasting Corporation announced Wednesday.
“The rains that fell last night (Tuesday) caused disaster in the northern and western provinces. Currently, the provisional figures issued by the administration of these provinces indicate that 109 people have been killed,” the radio said on its website.
The western province was worst hit with 95 people killed, while 14 people died in the northern province, not to mention the destruction of infrastructure. Pictures published by the authority showed destroyed homes, roads cut off by landslides, flooded fields and torrents of mud.
In Ngororero County, in the west of the country, the flooding of the Nyabarongo River cut off the main road for traffic, “making the area inaccessible by road… as the water level continues to rise,” according to the authority.
“Rescue efforts began immediately, including helping to bury the victims of the disaster as well as providing supplies for those whose homes were destroyed,” said Marie-Solange Kaiser, the minister responsible for emergency management.
Monsoon rains in East Africa have also claimed lives in Uganda, where six people died in a landslide caused by torrential rains in the southwestern Kisoro district close to the Rwandan border, the local Red Cross said.
Pictures released by the Uganda Red Cross showed residents digging in a torrent of mud on a hillside, with houses covered in mud up to roof level.
East Africa experiences floods every year during the rainy season. In May 2020, at least 65 people died in Rwanda due to heavy monsoon rains that also claimed at least 194 lives in Kenya.
At the end of 2019, two months of rain caused floods and landslides, killing at least 265 people and displacing hundreds of thousands, mainly in Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan.
