At least 400 people have been confirmed dead after flash floods and landslides devastated eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week, and many more are missing. Eyewitnesses in South Kivu province told RFI that bodies are still being recovered, even as fresh rains hit the region.
Search teams continue to find bodies buried under the mud that swept through villages in Kalehe territory in South Kivu on 4 May, the provincial coordinator of the Congolese Red Cross, John Kashingzwe, told RFI.
Days later, "there are smells that guide the rescuers and volunteers", he said.
Searchers have been using spades and their own hands to dig in the absence of machinery, according to Kashingzwe, as they race against the clock to limit the health hazards from decomposing bodies.
"My children's health is suffering," said Bertin Kalembe, who lives in the village of Mwimbiri. "They've got a fever, they're coughing, and I think it's because of the surrounding air," he told RFI's correspondent William Basimike.
"We need medication to fight against the risks of contamination," commented Espoir Lukungulika, another resident.
"With these smells, I feel sick and I've lost my appetite."
Mass graves
Many of the bodies recovered so far have been buried in mass graves as authorities seek to contain health risks.
But some have criticised the decision, including senator Francine Muyumba.
"We believe that wrapping our fellow citizens in body bags and burying them in a mass grave is not a dignified or acceptable burial," she told RFI.
"More needs to be done and it's up to the government. And we must bury our fellow citizens with dignity and as they should be buried."
DRC held a national day of mourning on Monday to commemorate the victims.
According to the UN humanitarian affairs bureau OCHA, some 3,000 families have been left homeless while the number of people missing remains unknown.
Cholera is now "a large concern", the agency said.
Landslide in North Kivu
Heavy rains lashed neighbouring North Kivu province on Tuesday night, triggering another deadly landslide.
Ten people were confirmed dead and rescuers are still searching for survivors in the village of Miringati in North Kivu province's Lubero territory, local authorities told AFP news agency on Wednesday.
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Last month, a landslide provoked by torrential downpours killed around 20 people in North Kivu.
And days before last week's disaster, floods killed at least 131 people and destroyed thousands of homes in Rwanda, which lies on the other side of Lake Kivu.
"This is yet another illustration of accelerating climate change and its disastrous impact on countries that have done nothing to contribute to global warming," commented UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a visit to Burundi last weekend.
