A new tragedy has plunged the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo into vacueing the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sixty-two (62) people lost their lives on the night of Thursday, 8 to Friday, 9 May, washed away by the waters of the Kasaba River, whose flash floods struck the village of the same name in Fizi territory in South Kivu. The disaster also engulfed hundreds of houses, leaving many families homeless.
The village, located at the foot of the hills on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, was violently surprised by the overflow of the river, caused by heavy rains. “It is with pain that I mourn my population of Kasaba village, a Basikalangwa group, Ngandja area, where several people have lost their lives and hundreds of houses have been swallowed up by the overflow of the Kasaba River,” said Ngandja sector chief Bernard Akili.
According to an administrative source contacted this Saturday by the ACP, rescue operations are made difficult by the state of the roads and complicated access to this enclaved area. Survivors, traumatized, lack everything: shelter, food, medical care. Local authorities urgently call for humanitarian aid.
The disaster sheds light once again on the vulnerability of Lake Tanganyika to extreme weather events, which are becoming increasingly common in the region. For several years, experts have been alerting to the combined effects of climate change, delineation of hills and lack of bank planning.
