Tanzania: 47 killed and 85 injured in landslides caused by flooding, says official

Tanzania: A official announced that At least 47 people have died and 85 others have been injured in landslides triggered by floods in northern Tanzania on Sunday.

A local official said that the number of deaths may increase. District Commissioner Janeth Mayanja said Katesh town, some 300 kilometres (186 miles) north of the capital Dodoma in Tanzania was affected by heavy rains on Saturday.

The death toll has risen to 47 till Sunday evening, the official said. While the number of injured has increased to 85. Queen Sendiga, regional commissioner in the Manyara area of northern Tanzania, said local media,”Up to this evening, the death count reached 47 and 85 injured.”

Along with this, the official warned that the death toll may increase. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, in Dubai for the COP28 climate conference, sent her condolences and said she had ordered the deployment of “more government efforts to rescue people”.

After experiencing unprecedented drought, East Africa has been hit for several weeks by torrential rains and floods linked to the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Heavy rains in Somalia have displaced more than one million people and killed hundreds. El Nino is a naturally occurring weather pattern that originates in the Pacific Ocean and increases heat around the world, causing drought in some areas and heavy rain in others.

Scientists expect the worst effects of the current El Nino to be felt in late 2023 and into next year.Between October 1997 and January 1998, severe flooding caused by heavy El Niño rains caused more than 6,000 deaths in five countries in the region.

Scientists say extreme weather events such as floods, storms, droughts and wildfires are becoming longer, more intense and more frequent due to human-induced climate change. Meanwhile, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who arrived in Dubai to attend the COP28 climate conference, expressed his condolences.

He said that directives have been issued to save people in Tanzania. Apart from this, more than one million people have been displaced and hundreds of people have been killed due to heavy rains in Somalia.