Flooding woke inhabitants of Western Cibitoke Province and northern areas in the capital Bujumbura when it invaded their homes on the night of 16 March. Six people died and hundreds of houses were destroyed.
Flood hits northern areas of Bujumbura, the capital.
On Gafumbegeti zone in Mabayi Commune of Cibitoke Province, five children of the same family died following the heavy rainfall. Joseph Iteriteka, the governor of Cibitoke Province says the children perished when a landslide destroyed their house. “We buried them this afternoon and the two wounded children and their mother are at the hospital to receive treatment”, says the governor. He also says that more than a hundred houses were destroyed and many crops damaged. “We have already informed the Ministry of Social Affairs so that it can assist as in other humanitarians,” he says.
A soldier also died when the heavy rain swept through Kinama neighborhood in the capital of Bujumbura during the night. Pascal Manirunga, local chief of Kinama, says that the soldier’s dead body was discovered the following morning. Manirunga also says that 15 houses were destroyed after Gasenyi river burst its banks.
Roads flooded in the capital Bujumbura. In Buterere zone of Ntahangwa commune in the capital, the local chief, Ernest Nduwimana, says the heavy rain destroyed more than a hundred houses while others flooded. Students stayed at home. “We could not get to our classes”, say Violette Shurweryimana, a student at the technical college in Buterere.
Nduwimana says they are consulting each other to see how to help the victims and calls on humanitarians to assist them.
In February 2014 in Gatunguru zone of Ntahangwa Commune in the capital Bujumbura, flood caused serious damage and claimed over 100 human lives. The main cause was poor construction of drainage channels. “Drainage channels were poorly built and caused flood in our areas”, say residents of Gatunguru.
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