Residents of Kinshasa surveyed the wreckage of their homes on Monday (April 7), recounting harrowing experiences of survival after severe flooding swept through parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, killing dozens and leaving many more displaced. - REUTERS
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Residents of Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, waded through floodwater
00:06to get to their homes on Monday, after severe flooding killed dozens and left many more
00:11displaced.
00:16This is the living room, the sitting area and everything, says local Prasad Nandu, as
00:23she points out the extent of her home's damage.
00:26Nandu says she spent 72 hours trapped in the water with her family, unable to eat.
00:32We lost everything.
00:34We didn't recover anything, she says.
00:38Torrential rains over the weekend destroyed homes and roads, killing dozens in the capital,
00:43the provincial health minister said on Sunday.
00:46The Njili River, which runs through part of the city of around 17 million people, overflowed
00:52its banks on Friday night.
00:54It blocked the main national road, which left drivers stranded since Saturday evening.
01:01Local Dorcas Katumba described her neighborhood as a swimming pool and says people are under
01:06the water.
01:07Kinshasa's governor said water infrastructure had been affected, but that supply would be
01:12reinstated shortly.
01:14He blamed illegal housing for some of the deaths and threatened to evict people from
01:18unplanned settlements.
01:20The flooding comes at a vulnerable time for the Central African nation.
01:24Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have intensified an offensive in the country's turbulent east,
01:31with more than 7,000 people killed in the fighting in the first two months of the year.