Kinshasa, 09 May, 2023 / 9:45 pm (ACI Africa).
Catholic Bishops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have expressed their “fraternal closeness and solidarity” with victims of deadly floods and landslides that have reportedly resulted in the death of hundreds of people in the country’s South Kivu Province.
According to Reuters, recovery efforts were still ongoing on Monday, May 8 following torrential rains that swept through DRC’s South Kivu Province on May 4, leaving at least 400 people dead in what is “one of the country’s deadliest disasters in recent history.”
In a statement shared with ACI Africa May 8, members of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) appeal to the government and humanitarian organizations to assist the affected families.
“It is with great emotion and sadness that we have received the sad news of the disasters due to the torrential rains that have fallen these days in the Province of South Kivu, especially in the Territory of Kalehe, causing loss of human life and important material damage,” Catholic Bishops in DRC say.
They add, “This misfortune adds to our sorrow at a time when we are very concerned about the worrying social and security situation in the Provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.”