Six more drown in Zim floods
2007-12-29 11:33
Harare - Six more people have drowned in flooded rivers in Zimbabwe, bringing the death toll from record heavy rains this month to 27, say reports.
Four of the dead were employees of the state-run ZESA electricity company, who were travelling in a company lorry that was swept away as the driver tried to cross the flooded Tiriri River in Chivi, southern Zimbabwe.
The workers had gone to Chivi to repair power lines damaged by the storms. The names of the dead had not been released.
In a separate incident, two children drowned after they were swimming in a flooded river near the mining area of Shurugwi, also in the south of the country, said the state-controlled Herald newspaper.
600 families lose homes
Heavy rains had been falling countrywide since the beginning of the month, flooding rivers and sweeping away villages in the remote north of the country.
Zimbabwe's meteorological department said on Friday that December 2007 was the wettest on record. The department had records of rainfall for more than 100 years, according to the Herald.
Most areas had received double the amount of rainfall they generally received for the month.
At least 600 families had lost their homes in remote Muzarabani district, where relief workers were struggling to reach stranded villages.
The rains had also damaged homes in the capital, Harare, especially in the low-income suburb of Epworth, said reports. It was reported that several homes had fallen apart under the pressure of the rains.
"Following three days of raining, the walls of our house collapsed while others developed wide cracks," resident Rosemary Ngwerume said.
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA