Torrential rains have destroyed more than 1 000 houses, leaving more than 6 000 people homeless in northern Mozambique, officials said on Thursday.
A statement by the government’s relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute, said 13 classrooms have also been swept away by the rain, and a further 150 houses are at risk of collapse.
A team from the Disaster Management Technical Council is in the Moma district, in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula, to assess the situation and provide humanitarian assistance.
Other parts of the country have also been affected by heavy rain that has destroyed homes, knocked down electricity pylons and led to the collapse of a bridge.
The authorities are trying to evacuate nearly 3 000 people from low-lying areas in Caia region of the central province of Sofala, which is at risk of flooding.
Earlier this month storms and torrential rains in southern and central Mozambique killed nine people and left about 7 000 homeless.
Mozambique, one of the world’s poorest countries, suffers from frequent flooding. In 2000 and 2001, floods killed more than 800 people, left hundreds of thousands homeless and severely damaged roads and bridges. — Sapa-AP