Congo landslide kills at least 9, most of them children

KINSHASA: At least nine people, including seven children from one family, died in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after heavy rain triggered a landslide that swept away several homes late on Friday, a local official said.

One resident of Kabulu village in Congo’s South Kivu province lost his wife and seven children in the landslide, territorial administrator Thomas Bakenga said by phone on Saturday.

Another child was killed elsewhere, Bakenga said, adding that the death toll could rise as the search for other missing people continued.

A local civil society group said seven homes had been swept away and 31 damaged, putting the death toll at 10.

Poor urban planning and weak infrastructure across Congo make communities more vulnerable to extreme rainfall, which is becoming more intense and frequent in Africa due to warming temperatures, according to climate experts.

Heavy rain in southwest Congo caused a ravine to collapse onto a river in April, killing at least 12 people. Scores more died in similar circumstances last December.

Climate change, environmental degradation, and pollution are among the major challenges Congo faces. For example, several of its major cities are facing regular power cuts due to a tide of plastic waste flowing into a major hydroelectric dam in the eastern Congo.

The Ruzizi dam located at the south end of Lake Kivu, which borders Rwanda, supplies the city of Bukavu and others with electricity and the power outages are hurting local businesses.

The problem is linked to the growing use of plastics coupled with a lack of waste collection in the region. Heavy rainfall causes waste to flow down from the mountainous terrain to the lake, where it collects and blocks the machinery.

“This waste effectively blocks the water. Water has difficulty entering the forced conduits to provide the pressure and speed required for the machines,” Ljovy Mulemangabo, provincial director of national power company SNEL, told Reuters.