Death toll rises to 63 as Tanzania reels from flooding, landslides

The death toll after floods in northern Tanzania has risen to 63, said the prime minister on Monday (Dec 4) following torrential rains this weekend. The floods and landslides have also prompted the Tanzanian president to cut her trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate summit short to deal with the impact of the heavy rains.

The deadly floods and landslides in Tanzania came as hundreds of others across East African countries have lost their lives due to extreme weather events since the beginning of seasonal rains in October.

Death toll rises to 63

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa in a televised statement said that at least 63 people were killed and 116 others were injured after floods in northern Tanzania. He also spoke about how landslides had destroyed half of one village he visited.

ALSO READ |At least 47 killed, 85 injured in floods, landslides in northern Tanzania

“We are here in front of bodies of our fellows. We have lost 63 loved ones. Of the total fellows we lost, 23 are men and 40 are women,” said the PM during an event to bid farewell to the bodies of those who had died in northern Tanzania’s Hanang district, as quoted by Reuters.

“My fellow Tanzanians, this is a tragedy,” he added.

Impact of flood, landslides

Zuhura Yunus, spokesperson for President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s office, said the floods and landslides had affected 1,150 households or 5,600 people, and destroyed 750 acres of farmland. Tanzania’s government said they have deployed 400 rescue workers in the northern Hanang district.

However, the rescue workers are facing a number of challenges including defective telecommunications, and blocked or damaged roads, said Yunus, in a statement on Monday.

“President Samia, who has been in Dubai for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP28) has decided to cut her trip short and arrive in the country as soon as possible to deal with this disaster,” she added.

ALSO READ |Italy PM Meloni sports 'anxiety' phone cover during COP28

The president has also ordered her government to pay for the funerals of those killed due to flooding and landslides, said her office spokesperson. She also directed the government to cover hospital fees for the injured and set up temporary homes for those who lost theirs due to the floods.

Queen Sendiga, commissioner of the Northern Manyara region, told reporters, late Sunday that the local authorities are still searching for bodies trapped in the mud. At least 100 houses have been swallowed by a landslide in the village of Katesh in Hanang district, said Sendiga.

She also said that people from around 28 households are still missing.

El Niño effect

Tanzania, like other countries in East Africa, has been hit with weeks of torrential rain and flooding after witnessing an unprecedented drought.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Kenya, floods have killed at least 154 people after the banks of the Voi River in the country’s south burst on Monday (Dec 4), reported Kenya Red Cross.

This has partly been attributed to the El Niño weather phenomenon which has also killed hundreds of people in Kenya and Somalia in recent weeks.

(With inputs from agencies)