Mbanza Kongo — At least 175 people have been left homeless in Noqui municipality ,Angola's northern Zaire province, following the Zaire River flooding, the Provincial Civil Protection Commission led by local governor Adriano Mendes de Carvalho has said .

The commission has assessed the damage caused by the opening of the floodgates at the Inga hydroelectric power station located at Matadi region, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The governor of Zaire province said he is closely monitoring the work being carried out by the civil protection commission and its partners, especially in the riverside villages that are under water to seek possible solutions.

Adriano Mendes de Carvalho expressed his disappointment at the situation, given that the provincial government had not been informed by the authorities of the Central Congo region (DRC) that they were going to open the floodgates of the Inga dam, the largest in that neighboring country.

Zaire River is bathed by both neighboring territories (Angola and the DRC), whose inhabitants of the riverside villages use this channel as a source of livelihood.

With an estimated population of over 20,000, the municipality of Nóqui is 175 kilometres away from Mbanza Kongo city and is subdivided into three communes: Mpala, Lufico and Sede.