FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES IN RWANDA, UGANDA CAUSE 140 DEATHS

Fri 05 May 2023:

The death toll from flooding and landslides, triggered by heavy rains in Rwanda and Uganda reached 140 on Thursday. The rains also destroyed more than 5,000 houses in Rwanda, leaving residents homeless, due to heavy downpour, that pounded the country Tuesday overnight, Anadolu Agency reported.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente, along with other government officials, joined the residents of the Rubavu district in western Rwanda for the burial of the victims.

President Paul Kagame, in a condolence message to the families of the victims, said the government was doing everything within its means to address the difficult situation.

It rained Tuesday overnight in several parts of western and northern Rwanda, Marie Solange Kayisire, the minister for emergency management, told reporters.

The rain also destroyed houses and crops.

Kayisire said relief efforts were ongoing to provide temporary shelter to those rendered homeless.

She said the rain also caused landslides, badly hitting the districts of Ngororero, Rubavu, Nyabihu, Rutsiro, and Karongi in western Rwanda.

The rain also triggered flooding in western Rwanda after River Sebeya burst its banks, Geoginah Mutabazi, a resident of Rubavu, told Anadolu.

The Rwanda Meteorological Agency on Tuesday forecast beyond-average rains and extreme weather-related events in some parts of the country during the first 10 days of May.

Meanwhile, in Western Uganda’s Kisoro district, the death toll from Tuesday’s mudslides has risen to 18, according to the Uganda Red Cross Society.

Uganda’s western region is currently facing heavy rains which have triggered landslides, causing casualties and destroying houses and crops.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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