At least 49 people have died in South Africa after heavy rains caused major flooding Eastern Cape province, officials said on Wednesday.
The largely rural region, which stretches from the Indian Ocean into high inland mountains, has been battered by heavy rain and snow since the weekend.
Much of South Africa has been struck by heavy rainfall and bitterly cold conditions in the past days.
“We have never seen this kind of combination of snow and torrential rains in winter simultaneously,” Eastern Cape premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane told reporters.
Schoolchildren among the dead
Among those who perished were four children on a school minibus that was swept away by the waters, provincial authorities said.
“Sadly, four of those learners have been confirmed to be deceased, together with the driver and the conductor of the minibus taxi,” Mabuyane said.
“Four learners are still missing and are still being looked for,” he continued, adding that three others had been found alive.
Officials did not provide additional information about the other victims, saying the situation is evolving.
Eastern Cape ‘never experienced’ such disasters
South Africa’s national weather service has warned that severe and extreme winter weather conditions are expected to continue until at least the middle of this week.
“Now we are busy with the rescue operation. So we are trying to get figures, our people out of that situation, dead or alive,” Mabuyane said.
He told public broadcaster SABC News earlier that only one helicopter was available in the province.
“We need more resources,” he said. “We have never experienced disasters like this but now it’s inevitable with climate change and global warming,” Mabuyane added.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/south-africa-winter-storm-leaves-over-40-dead/a-72876851
