Death toll from South Africa floods up to 78

JOHANNESBURG: The death toll from heavy flooding in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province this week has risen to 78 and could increase further as search and rescue operations are continuing, a minister said late on Thursday.

Parts of South Africa were lashed by heavy rain and snow since the weekend, in a severe winter cold front that disrupted transport and power networks as well as causing intense flooding.

The death toll stood at 49 on Wednesday.

“The figure has gone to 78 now,” Velenkosini Hlabisa, minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, told public broadcaster SABC.

“Even tomorrow, the more water subsides, the more people will be found,” he added.

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Flooding has become more common and severe in South Africa as the impacts of climate change are felt.

Likewise, at least 98 people were still missing in addition to 160 confirmed dead a week after floods ripped through a town in central Nigeria, the national emergency agency said on Wednesday (June 4), as hopes of finding survivors fade.

Heavy rainfall unleashed waters that destroyed homes and overwhelmed local drainage systems in Mokwa, about 270 km (168 miles) west of Abuja, in one of the deadliest floods to hit Africa’s most populous country.

Although search and rescue operations were continued, damage to roads and bridges was hampering access, said the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), which has enlisted the help of Nigeria Red Cross, police and army.

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