Three men have drowned in Malawi, swept away in the swollen rivers that have caused flooding in the south and centre of the Southern African country, an official said on Friday.
Police used fishnets to retrieve the body of fellow officer Wisten Dimingu (33), who was swept away by the current as he was trying to cross a fast-flowing river at Malindi in the southern Mangochi district, said Harry Chipeni, a district official who is heading relief efforts.
Another man drowned while trying to cross a river, while a third was swept away as he was trying to retrieve items floating in the water, said Chipeni.
”All of the rivers are fast flowing because of the heavy rains which continue to fall in the district,” he said.
The heaviest downpour in 28 years has caused flooding in Mangochi district, leaving 6 000 people homeless, destroying crops and damaging roads.
The main road linking the prime resort district areas of Monkey Bay and lakeshore hotels, favoured by tourists for their sandy beaches and tropical fish, has been washed away.
Primary schools have been closed since classrooms have been temporarily converted into shelters for the flood victims.
There is no access to Monkey Bay, the country’s best-known resort area, which is at the foot of Lake Malawi, Africa’s third-largest fresh water lake, after a bridge was washed away and 10km of pavement eroded.
About 2 000 people have lost their homes in floods that have hit the central district of Salima. They are taking shelter in churches, mosques and schools.
Gold panners die
Meanwhile, at least seven illegal gold panners have died in the past week just over Zimbabwe’s border with Mozambique after heavy rains brought chaos to the area, reports from eastern Zimbabwe said on Friday.
There are fears the casualty figure could be much higher.
Hospitals in Zimbabwe’s Chimanimani and Chipinge districts are preparing themselves for an influx of bodies amid fears that up to 50 gold panners may have died, according to one newspaper.
”People are dying and there were bodies everywhere,” Ananias Mupondi, an illegal panner, told the official Manica Post on his return to Chimanimani.
Heavy rains beginning last Friday have brought chaos to Zimbabwe’s border with Mozambique, flooding caves where illegal panners stay and swelling rivers.
Some of the dead are believed to have been swept away by the rivers while others may have died of malaria and pneumonia, said the Manica Post, which is published in the city of Mutare.
”While the actual number of deaths could not be immediately established, unconfirmed reports say more than 50 people could have died in the past week,” the paper said.
It said thousands of ”frail” gold panners have been trickling back into Zimbabwe this week.
”The situation in Mozambique is serious and panners are dying in large numbers,” said gold digger Norman Sundiwa, from Mutare.
”As we were coming I witnessed six deaths and we buried one in a cave,” Sundiwa added.
Despite the dangers, illegal gold panners have been flooding to an area in Mozambique just 50km from the Zimbabwe border where a rich gold belt is reported to have been discovered. — Sapa