Heavy rain leaves four city children dead

Four children were among five people who died as heavy rain pounded the City of Kigali on Tuesday, destroying property worth millions of francs.Three children were killed when a landslide swept away the house in which they were sleeping in Kanyinya Sector, Nyarugenge District. Another child was swept by running water in Nyabugogo, also in Nyarugenge District, officials from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugees Affairs said.The identities of the victims and other details were not readily available by press time.However, the fifth victim was identified as John Ndahirwa, a security guard who was swept by torrential water as he tried to save warehouse goods from destruction in Gikondo, Kicukiro District.Five people were also seriously injured and admitted to Central University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (Chuk).A Police assessment report, released last evening, said most of the affected families are living in disaster-prone areas.“Most of the families affected live in demarcated high-risk zones. We urge all families living in these risky areas to relocate to other sites allocated by districts,” Police spokesperson Damas Gatare said in a statement.Frederic Ntawukuriryayo, the communications director at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugees Affairs (Midimar), said parts of bitumen on roads in Nyabugogo and Gikondo were also destroyed.Ntawukuriryayo said 80 houses have so far been assessed as damaged.Merchandise lostHussein Seif, a trader, lost goods, including textiles, sofa sets, accessories and electronics worth more than Rwf150 million when Bollore Africa Logistics, a warehouse in Gikondo, was destroyed.“We contacted all the authorities including the Police to protect the remaining goods against theft, Rwanda Revenue Authority not to tax the destroyed goods and insurance companies to assess the losses,” said Zacharie Nsengiyaremye, the Bollore Africa Logistics human resources manager.He said they were yet to establish how many traders had lost their goods in the warehouses and the exact worth of the goods.“It’s really sad. This is a wake-up call to the residents around here to construct more and better canals for better drainage, especially when it rains,” said Olive Uzamukunda, Gikondo Sector executive secretary.Gatare said Police, in partnership with other stakeholders, have laid short- and long-term intervention strategies of responding to disasters.Last year, 75 people died from disasters in high-risk zones. This year alone, more than 58 people have died, according to Midimar.In June, government launched the construction of houses for 30,822 families meant to be resettled from areas regarded as prone to disasters across the country.The areas include households in steep slopes, in swamp areas, or other adjacent land which can be vulnerable to disasters.But the pending eviction of residents in these areas has previously sparked anxiety rather than excitement with some people resisting evictions notices.

National

Heavy rain leaves four city children dead