According to a government document, at least 120 people have died in the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa, as a result of floods and landslides brought on by heavy rains.
Houses and roads, notably the N1 highway that connects Kinshasa to the main sea port of Matadi, were ripped apart by sinkholes, and entire neighbourhood were inundated with murky water.
The N1 may be blocked for three to four days, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The General Management of Migration, a division of the interior ministry, tallied the fatalities.
The toll may rise. Jean-Jacques Mbungani Mbanda, the health minister, told Reuters that although the ministry had counted 141 dead but that the figure needed to be verified with other ministries.
Images posted on Twitter by Congo’s government spokesman Patrick Muyaya showed a major road that appeared to have subsided into a deep chasm, with crowds staring at the damage.
‘On the National Road 1 there is a big hole. Only pedestrians can pass. We do not understand how the water cut the road,’ said local resident Gabriel Mbikolo.
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