Fifty-three people have died in Luanda, Angola’s seaside capital, in torrential rains that have lashed the city for three days, a police spokesperson said on Wednesday.
”We have recorded 53 deaths until now,” Divaldo Martins said, adding that more than 1 300 families were homeless.
Luanda governor Job Capapihna on Tuesday met with senior local officials in the city of 4,5-million, whose creaking infrastructure has been further damaged by the downpours, to assess the damage.
In March 2005, flooding in northern Angola — a former Portuguese colony that is still recovering from a 27-year civil war that shattered most of its infrastructure — left over 10 000 people without shelter.
Makeshift shelters have been put up in Luanda to house those rendered homeless by the flash floods, which have also hit telephone lines.
”The country has been cut off from the rest of the world because the rains have destroyed the optic fibre cables. We will do our best to address the situation,” said Manuel Cesar, spokesperson of the state-run telephone firm Angolatelecom. — AFP
