The death toll following flooding and landslides in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has risen to at least at 394.
The authorities had previously said 200 people had died following torrential rainfall on Thursday.
A further 205 people were seriously injured in the flooding caused when rivers burst their banks following heavy rains on Thursday, while 167 people are listed as missing.
The Congolese Red Cross volunteers do not have body bags, and the dead bodies are being piled up wrapped in blankets in the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi in the south of Kivu province.
On Monday, President Felix Tshisekedi declared a national day of mourning, and a delegation of cabinet ministers is set to travel to the region to coordinate humanitarian aid and disaster management, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said.
The current rainy season, typical for the south Kivu region, is expected to last until the end of May.
The disaster in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo came two days after floods killed at least 131 people and destroyed thousands of homes in neighbouring Rwanda, which lies on the other side of Lake Kivu.
On Saturday, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres offered his condolences to the victims of the catastrophic floods in both countries.
Guterres said: “This is yet another illustration of accelerating climate change and its disastrous impact on countries that have done nothing to contribute to global warming”
Experts say extreme weather events are happening with increased frequency and intensity due to climate change.
In April, a landslide provoked by torrential downpours killed about 20 people in north Kivu, a province that neighbours south Kivu.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, a vast nation the size of continental western Europe, is one of the poorest countries in the world, riddled by conflict in its east.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here
