LUANDA, Angola (AFP) — Flash floods triggered by torrential rains in Angola have killed at least 14 people and displaced around 8,000 in the capital Luanda, the national news agency reported.
Bridges and homes collapsed on Monday as hours of heavy rain fell on the ocean-facing city, swamping streets and sweeping away cars and trees.
Citing the spokesman for the national civil protection agency Faustino Mingues, news agency Angpop said most of the victims were either crushed by debris or electrocuted.
Rubble was scattered along Luanda’s streets on Tuesday as residents took stock of the damage, wading through water-drenched patches of land.
Several houses had caved-in roofs and broken down brick walls.
One woman was spotted by an AFP reporter scooping brown water out of the windows of her house with a large plastic bucket.
Heavy downpours are not unusual in Angola during the southwest African country’s rainy season.
Forty-one people died and more than 300 homes were destroyed by flooding in January last year, affecting more than 2,000 families.
© Agence France-Presse
