Floods caused by heavy rains swept parts of DR Congo’s capital Kinshasa on Tuesday, in one case killing nine people when their home collapsed, an AFP reporter saw.
Major roads in the centre of Kinshasa, a city of some 15 million people, were submerged.
Images circulating on social media showed a landslide in Mont-Ngafula district, cutting off Highway 1, a key supply route linking the capital with the Atlantic Ocean port of Matadi.
Floods also inundated streets in the up-market government district of Gombe, which houses ministries and embassies.
The AFP reporter saw the bodies of nine members of a family who had died after the collapse of their home in the Binza Delvaux district.
Located on the Congo River, Kinshasa has seen a huge population influx in recent years.
Many dwellings are shanty houses built on flood-prone slopes and the city suffers from inadequate drainage and sewerage. In 2019, around 40 people died in floods and landslips.
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