Sixteen Dead in DR Congo Landslips

Sixteen people in a mining town in eastern DR Congo have died in landslips triggered by torrential rain, local officials said Tuesday.

The accident happened overnight Monday in Kamituga in South Kivu province, the acting mayor there, Alexandre Ngandu, told AFP.

“The toll is 16 dead… men, women and children,” he said by phone.

Tristan Mukamba Mwanga, head of an NGO called the New Civil Society of Kamituga, said four areas in the town had suffered landslips.

Fatalities were concentrated among shacks built on slopes in unauthorised areas, he said.

Residents said the bodies were placed before the town hall for funerals later Tuesday. Ngandu said he had been looking for coffins with which to bury the victims.

At least 20 people died in landslips and flooding last week in Masisi, in neighbouring North Kivu province.

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