A landslide after heavy rains in an eastern area of the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed dozens of people, according to an estimate of the number of households buried by tons of mud, an official said Saturday.
About 50 households in the fishing village of Tora, in Ituri Province on the shore of Lake Albert in the Western Rift Valley, were buried by the landslide, said Pacifique Keta, the vice governor of Ituri Province. Mr. Keta said he feared that as many as 200 people had died.
So far, at least 50 bodies have been recovered with the help of Red Cross workers, Mr. Keta said by telephone. He added that he had asked the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo to help with the rescue and recovery efforts because the area is difficult to get to. “It is very mountainous,” he said.
The landslide started early Wednesday after a night of heavy rain, said Jules Tsuba, the president of a local civil society group. “The mountain swallowed more than 100 people and destroyed properties and animals,” he said. “The government promised to do something about it, but nothing has been done since.”
Landslides are not uncommon in the region. Large-scale deforestation, driven by growing demands for land, and climate change, which is affecting rainfall patterns, have contributed to the problem.
On Friday, Sierra Leone buried more than 400 people in its capital, Freetown, after they were killed in mudslides in the past week. More than 600 people are still missing. Because there is a shortage of heavy equipment to help with the rescue and recovery efforts, some residents took to digging through the earth with their bare hands.
