CAPITAL OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Due to heavy rainfall in Kinshasa, the Capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 50 people have been killed, after heavy rain triggered floods and caused landslides.
Sylvano Kasongo, said on Tuesday, “We are already at around 50 deaths and that is not yet final,” the city’s police chief.
On the banks of the Congo River, once a collection of fishing villages, With the population of about 15 million the Kinshasa has grown into one of Africa’s largest megacities.
After intense rains, poorly regulated rapid urbanisation has made Kinshasa increasingly vulnerable to flash floods, which have become more frequent because of climate change.
Arterial roads in the centre of Kinshasa were submerged.
On social media images have been shared showing a landslide in the hilly Mont-Ngafula district, while cutting off Highway 1, which is a key supply route linking the capital with the Atlantic Ocean port of Matadi.
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