Officials claimed Friday that more than 170 people died due to heavy rains and flooding in the eastern DR Congo's South Kivu region, following the deaths of dozens in neighbouring Rwanda.
Theo Ngwabije, governor of South Kivu, claimed dozens of people were missing in the Kalehe district, west of Lake Kivu and near the Rwandan border, where floods had washed away hundreds of homes.
"We have about 176 people dead," he remarked during a visit to the disaster area.
"This toll is only provisional," he explained. "We also have about 100 people who are missing."
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Archimede Karhebwa, Kalehe's assistant administrator, previously told AFP that a preliminary toll of 100 people had died.
The government declared on Friday evening that a day of national mourning will be marked on Monday, with flags lowered to half-mast "in memory of the lost compatriots."
According to him, several villages in Kalehe were submerged as rivers burst their banks following severe rainfall.
Karhebwa said the floods destroyed hundreds of homes and "surprised vendors and their clients in the markets."
"This toll is only provisional," he explained. "We also have about 100 people who are missing."
According to Innocent Mupenda, a civil society member in the region, a downpour began on Thursday afternoon before the "river carried away villagers."
Mupenda stated his mother and 11 children died in the flood.
Vital Muhini, a Kalehe elected official, told a local radio station that the floods had caused "devastating human and material damage." He estimated that roughly 150 people died.
The AFP could not independently confirm the death toll, which varied according to reports.
"This toll is only provisional," he explained. "We also have about 100 people who are missing."
"The search is continuing in the rubble," said a rescue squad member deployed on Friday afternoon who declined to be identified.
The tragic flooding in Eastern Congo follows the deaths of at least 127 people this week in neighbouring Rwanda, on the other side of Lake Kivu.
