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Entire neighborhoods were inundated with muddy water, with houses and roads torn apart by sinkholes, including the N1 motorway that connects Kinshasa to the main seaport of Matadi, according to a government document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that the N1 could be closed for 3-4 days.
The death toll was compiled by the Directorate General of Immigration under the Ministry of the Interior.
Tolls may rise. Health Minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani Mbanda said the ministry had tallied 141 deaths, but the figure needed to be cross-checked with other departments.
Images posted on Twitter by Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya showed crowds watching the damage as a main road appeared to have sunk into the abyss.
Local resident Gabriel Mbikolo said: “There is a big hole on National Road 1, which is only accessible to pedestrians. We don’t understand how the water cuts the road.”
Once a fishing village along the Congo River, Kinshasa has grown into one of Africa’s largest megacities, with a population of around 15 million.
Rapid, poorly managed urbanization has made the city increasingly vulnerable to flash floods after heavy rains, which are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
In 2019, torrential rains in Kinshasa flooded low-lying areas, collapsed some buildings and roads, and killed at least 39 people.
According to a 2020 World Bank document, in addition to infrastructure damage, flooding costs households $1.2 million a day due to massive transportation disruptions.
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