At least 176 people have died in flash floods in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a regional governor said on Friday, as heavy rain destroyed buildings and forced aid workers to gather mud-clad corpses into piles.
The rainfall in Kalehe territory in South Kivu province caused rivers to overflow, inundating the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi.
Across the border in Rwanda, flooding and landslides killed 130 people and destroyed more than 5,000 homes this week.
The heavy rains, which began on Thursday evening, caused multiple landslides with scores of homes destroyed, according to Delphin Birimbi, a community leader in the region.
As bodies were pulled from the mud, some residents estimated that more than 75 per cent of homes in the village of Nyamukubi have been carried away by the floods, along with school buildings and a health centre.
South Kivu governor Tho Ngwabidje Kasi put the death toll at 176 and said that others were still missing. A local civil society member, Kasole Martin, said 227 bodies had been found.
"People are sleeping out in the open, schools and hospitals have been swept away," Mr Martin said.
On Friday, haggard-looking survivors stood outside a wooden shed in which Red Cross workers in blue scrubs placed bodies on top of each other.
Many had lost clothing and were covered in dirt.
The corrugated iron roofs of flattened houses jutted out from beneath thick layers of mud, photos showed.
Rescue efforts underway
Rescuers worked to find and save anyone who may be trapped under the rubble of their homes.
A doctor in Kalehe territory's main hospital, Robert Masamba, said injured survivors had been streaming in since Thursday evening.
"My team and I have not slept. We have received 56 patients, 80 per cent of which have fractures," he said.
Thomas Bakenge, a regional government official overseeing recovery efforts, called the scale of destruction "enormous, beyond words … whole houses were carried away."
He said bodies were still being collected from the shores of the nearby Lake Kivu.
Mr Bakenge called for immediate assistance, saying, "there is absolutely nothing left here. We urgently need help."
In neighbouring Rwanda, where heavy rains began on Tuesday, officials continued the search for more bodies with five people still missing.
Agnes Mukamana lost three children and her husband after the flood water engulfed her home. Her fifteen-year-old son was able to get out and ask for help, but it was too late.
"When the people arrived, my three children and husband had already died. And at that time, I was the only one who was still alive," Ms Mukamana said.
Officials say the floods destroyed over 5,100 homes and damaged a further 2,500.
Local infrastructure has also been badly damaged, including roads, bridges, and multiple health care facilities.
Heavy rains have brought misery to thousands in East Africa, with parts of Uganda and Kenya also seeing heavy rainfall.
The last incident of a similar scale in Congo occurred in October 2014, when heavy rainfall destroyed over 700 homes. More than 130 people were reported missing at the time, according to the United Nations.
Experts say deforestation in the area and climate change have contributed to the flooding problem.
ABC/wires
