Landslides triggered by heavy rainfall kill at least 20 people in Tanzania
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) — Landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 20 people in southern Tanzania in recent days, authorities said, as the death toll across the East African region continues to rise.
Rain and strong winds caused landslides that destroyed houses early Wednesday in the Mbeya region, said Jaffar Haniu, administrator of Rungwe district where the landslides occurred.
“The death toll now stands at 20,” he told reporters. “One of the victims is a very young child of a year and a half.”
He said meteorologists predicted more rainfall in the coming days and urged residents in landslide-prone areas to evacuate.
In neighboring Kenya, which experiences seasonal flooding every year, at least 88 people have been killed. Flooding has affected 21 counties and at least two rivers have burst their banks since heavy rains began earlier this month.
But the scale and intensity of the current crisis has renewed concerns about disaster preparedness and the vulnerability of communities living near rivers and flood-prone areas. The army was deployed to assist emergency rescue services.
In southern Ethiopia, at least 80 people were killed in landslides in early March.
Last month, the Climate Predictions and Applications Center of a regional bloc known as IGAD said the March-May rainy season had a 45 percent chance of above-average precipitation in most countries in the region, with affected countries ranging from Uganda to Djibouti.
