The death toll from a series of earthquakes that hit Central Africa rose on Monday to 43 as a major aid operation for hundreds of injured and thousands of homeless gathered pace amid new aftershocks.
Thirty-seven of the deaths were reported in Rwanda’s Western Province and six around the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) city of Bukavu, which was near the epicentre.
Western Province governor Penelope Kantarama gave the new toll in a telephone conversation before the line was cut — a victim of the huge communications problems caused by Sunday’s quakes, the biggest of which hit 6 on the open-ended Richter scale.
The two biggest quakes struck close together along the western Rift Valley fault, cracking open the walls of houses and buildings.
Ten people were killed when a church collapsed in the Rusizi district of Western Province where Kantarama was on Monday.
The quakes struck when many churches were packed for Sunday services and others also collapsed, trapping the congregations under rubble.
Many of the injured have fractured skulls and other broken limbs suffered as walls fell in or people rushed to get out of stricken buildings.
The Rwandan government sent extra medical teams to Rusizi, national radio reported, while in the neighbouring DRC the government said its priority was to help the homeless. Humanitarian groups said thousands had lost their homes.
“There were some small aftershocks during the night. But fortunately most people followed appeals to sleep outdoors and there were no new victims,” Bukavu mayor Guilaume Bonga said.
“Our priority now is to evaluate the needs of the victims. There are hundreds of homeless,” he added, appealing for plastic covers, tents and medicines.
The epicentre for the biggest quake was about 20km north of Bukavu, the capital of Sud Kivu province. There are about 300 000 people in the city and the mayor said nearly every house had suffered some kind of damage.
The UN peacekeeping mission in DRC has joined the relief effort after the quakes.
Extra police and military patrols have been ordered in Bukavu to deter looting, officials said.
A powerful 6,8-magnitude quake rocked the region in December 2005 but, while it is prone to seismic activity, it has mostly escaped major quake damage in recent years. — AFP