Seventy-one people have died in flash floods following torrential rains across Angola, with almost all the fatalities reported in the seaside capital Luanda, the fire service said on Thursday.
”According to the last count, there have been 71 deaths,” said fire service spokesperson Faustino Sebastiao.
”Of the total figure, 65 deaths occurred in Luanda and six others in the [southern] province of Benguela,” he said.
Luanda is home to about 4,5-million people and despite Angola’s oil riches has a skeletal infrastructure, which has been further damaged by the downpours. The rains flooded arterial bridges in the city centre.
In March 2005, flooding in northern Angola — a former Portuguese colony which is still recovering from a 27-year civil war — left over 10 000 people without shelter.
Makeshift shelters have been put up in Luanda to house those left homeless by the flash floods, which have also hit telephone lines. – Sapa-AFP