Heavy rains and flooding in Tanzania have killed at least 58 people, including children, since the beginning of April, according to a government spokesman on Sunday.
“From April 1 to April 14, 2024, there were 58 deaths caused by heavy rains, which led to flooding,” Mobhare Matinyi told a press briefing, emphasizing that the East African country’s coastal region was one of the worst hit.
“Serious flood effects are experienced in the coast region where 11 people have so far died,” he added.
On Friday, eight schoolchildren died after their bus plunged into a flooded gorge in the north of the country.
A volunteer in the rescue operations also died.
More than 10,000 households have been affected and over 75,000 farms have been damaged by flooding in the coastal and Morogoro areas — located 200 kilometres (124 miles) west of the economic capital Dar es Salaam, the government spokesperson added.
This year’s seasonal rains are exacerbated by the El Nino weather phenomenon, meteorologists have warned.
The naturally occurring El Nino, which emerged in mid-2023, usually increases global temperatures for one year afterwards.
