Johannesburg

Thursday

Mostly sunny. Cool.

8°C
18°C

7 day forecasts

People fleeing from crocodiles

2005-04-27 13:06

Addis Ababa - About 82 people died in floods that swept eastern Ethiopia at the weekend and the death toll will rise further unless help gets to survivors soon, the government's relief co-ordinator said on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of people were left homeless when the Wabe Shebelle river in the eastern Somali region burst its banks on Saturday after two days of heavy rains, crashing through 40 villages and sweeping families away, said relief co-ordinator Muktar Mohammed Seyyid.

"This is a catastrophe," Muktar said by telephone from the region. "If we don't take action, I am afraid the death toll will increase."

Muktar said if the rains continue - forecasters expect thunderstorms will continue into the weekend - further deaths could occur from flooding.

"Even now there are still people in trees because they are afraid of crocodiles," he said from the worst affected area, Gode.

Some plastic sheeting and high-energy biscuits have arrived in the region but as yet rescuers have been unable to get them to survivors, said Ahmed Abdi of the United Nations World Food Programme.

He said many areas still remain cut off. - AP

- SAPA

inside news24

Cpt: 8-9°C More sun than clouds. Cool. Pta: 9-17°C More sun than clouds. Cool.
Jhb: 8-18°C Mostly sunny. Cool. Bloem: 7-17°C High level clouds. Cool.
Dbn: 13-19°C More sun than clouds. Cool. PE: 10-13°C Sprinkles late. More clouds than sun. Cool.
7 day forecasts...
Western Cape Eastern Cape Kwazulu Natal Gauteng

Cape Town - 15:45:11 PM Stationary truck on the link to the N2 inbound carriageway More traffic reports...

Here are the winning Lotto numbers from the Saturday, November 7 draw.

18, 24, 25, 31, 35, 42 Bonus 38

Lotto plus: 4, 14, 17, 20, 21, 34 Bonus 3

SMS the word Lotto to 31222 to get lotto numbers sent directly to your phone. The service costs just R10 per month. 
More lotto numbers...

Jobs - Find your dream job

Creditors Clerk

Western Cape
Personastaff
R7,000-8,000 Per Month

Web Designer

Western Cape - Cape Town
Careers24

Solution Designer

Gauteng - Pretoria
Kanimambo

Cars - Search 1000's of new and used cars

AUDI

2008 A4 1.8T Multitronics from R 269 000

VOLKSWAGEN

Polo 1.6 Trendline 5-dr MY05
2008
R 119,990.00

AUDI

A4 Avant 2.0 TFSi Multitronic 7-sp MY05
2006
R 215,000.00

FORD

Bantam 1600 PU MY92
2000
R 43,995.00

Property - Find a new home

MAGALIESKRUIN

Single Residential R2,150,000

MONTANA

Single Residential R3,550,000

CAPE TOWN

Multiple Unit R720,000

Travel - Look, Book, Go!

Free Games - TOO MUCH NEWS? TAKE A BREAK!