At least 15 individuals lost their lives in landslides that struck the city of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources reported on Monday.
Bukavu, serving as the capital of South Kivu province, faced severe downpours leading to landslides that buried multiple houses, causing devastation in the area.
Albert Migabo Nyagaza, the neighborhood chief in the Ndedere district, informed media that a father, along with his five children and two grandchildren, was buried under the earth, resulting in the destruction of their home.
The landslide occurred around midnight on Sunday, Nyagaza added.
Local resident Medo Igunzi Munene recounted, “We heard a loud noise resembling thunder,” noting that he witnessed “the collapse of a house wall onto another below where eight individuals were sleeping.”
In the nearby Panzi district, a similar situation unfolded, claiming the lives of at least seven people due to landslides.
This tragedy adds to the series of landslides and building collapses that have plagued Bukavu this year.
Originally designed for approximately 100,000 inhabitants by Belgian settlers, the overcrowded city on the southern shores of Lake Kivu now accommodates around two million residents. However, the absence of a proper census makes confirming the precise population challenging.
In October, the United Nations highlighted that a record 6.9 million people had been internally displaced in the DRC, attributable to a combination of conflict, insecurity, floods, and landslides.
