/ 27 November 2003

Rains bring starvation in Angola

Eight people starved to death in the southern Angolan region of Benguela after torrential rains destroyed crops, the Jornal de Angola daily said on Thursday.

”The situation is particularly bad in Chicuma town [in eastern Benguela],” a local village chief, Adriano Mawangu, was quoted as

saying.

According to the newspaper, about 60ha of farmland planted with crops have been destroyed since the rains began early this month.

Locals have been forced to travel long distances in search of food and firewood, it said.

Heavy downpours ravage Angola regularly, causing loss of life and damage to property. — Sapa-AFP