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Floods kill dozens, render 10,000 people homeless in DR Congo

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Floods kill dozens, renders 10,000 people homeless in DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been hit by flash floods which caused a river to burst its banks in the south of the country, affecting towns and villages, killing dozens of people and rendering 10,000 others homeless.

Residents in Boma, one of the worst-hit towns, told Al Jazeera they watched in despair as their loved ones were swept away by surging waters.

Makiadi Mvubu, who lost one of his daughters to the floods, told Al Jazeera: “I was trying to get into the house but just before I could it collapsed.

“We saved everyone but our daughter. We found her body four kilometres away.”

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Torrential rains caused the Kalamu River, which flows through Boma, some 470km southwest of the capital Kinshasa, to overflow last month, causing waters to hit a peak of two metres above their average level.

Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller, reporting from Boma, said some family members were still searching for bodies that may be buried in the mud with authorities revealing that 50 people have so far been confirmed dead.

“The force of the flood water washed away a bridge,” she said. “It was so strong that some bodies were swept 35km into neighbouring Angola.”

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