storm
At least 68 dead after landslide in northern Tanzania
Heavy rain began on Saturday evening and triggered mudslides on Mount Hanang on Sunday. The city of Katesh was particularly affected. photo
© —/AP/dpa
The El Niño weather phenomenon has been causing floods in East Africa for weeks. Now Tanzania has been hit. Dozens of people have died in a landslide.
In a landslide after heavy rain in East Africa At least 68 people died in Tanzania. The number of reported injuries was 116 as of Monday evening, said the regional commissioner for the Manyara region, Queen Sendiga. A team of 350 army rescue experts is on duty to rescue further victims. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan had announced that the government would cover the funeral costs of the victims.
The heavy rains began on Saturday evening and triggered mudslides on Mount Hanang on Sunday morning, Sendiga said. The town of Katesh, which lies at the foot of the mountain, is particularly affected.
Numerous countries in East Africa have been suffering from floods and floods related to the El Niño weather phenomenon for weeks. According to the governments and the UN emergency aid organization OCHA, a total of more than 200 people died in Kenya and Somalia alone. Millions of people had to flee their villages and cities. The heavy rains followed one of the worst droughts in the Horn of Africa.
The El Niño phenomenon, caused by a warming of the tropical Pacific, causes, among other things, a “reversal” of the weather with heavy rain in drought areas and drought in otherwise rainy areas. The phenomenon can usually be observed every two to seven years. According to climate researchers, advancing global warming is increasing particularly violent El Niño events.