The authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have decreed three days of national mourning for the death of at least 120 people due to heavy rains in the capital, Kinshasa, which have caused flooding and landslides in the city.
The DRC president, Felix Tshisekedi, who is in the United States to participate in an international summit, has announced the decision and his early return to the African country after his meeting with his American counterpart, Joe Biden.
The Congolese Presidency has indicated in its account on the social network Twitter that the president “has decided to decree a three-day national mourning starting this Wednesday, December 14, 2022, and to shorten his trip to the United States to return to Kinshasa on Thursday, December 15”.
“The head of state, who is following the evolution of the situation every hour, has ordered the government, under the mandate of the Prime Minister, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, to take charge of the situation of the victims of the floods”, has pointed.
Thus, the Deputy Prime Minister for the Interior, Daniel Aselo, has detailed that the funeral ceremonies will be organized by communes and has conveyed the “deepest condolences to all the families in mourning” due to the floods, registered since Monday night.
On the other hand, Sama Lukonde has confirmed the beginning of the rehabilitation works on the national highway 1, cut at the height of the Mont Ngafula commune due to material damage suffered by the rains and landslides.
The mayor of Kinshasa, Gentiny Ngobila, has asked the population “to show a collective awareness of the urgent need to respect urban regulations and avoid building in prohibited areas and not throw dirt into rivers and canals whose function is to allow the drainage of water from rain”.
