A 20-year-old girl on Sunday died in a landslide caused by severe weather in Rubavu District, Western Province.

Landslides, affecting villages of Rugerero Sector from the district, were caused by heavy rains.

Clémentine Uwamahirwe – the deceased, died on spot as a landslide buried a house in which she and some other seven family members were sleeping.

According to accounts by residents and local officials, as the incident unfolded they intensified efforts to exhume the victims and failed to rescue the deceased as she had been hit by a wall.

"…the downpour triggered the landslide that hit the house and subsequently a wall collapsed on the deceased as she was sleeping,” said Faustin Nkurunziza, the Executive Secretary of Rugerero Sector.

 He added; "Fortunately, some other family members who were also sleeping in the same house were successfully rescued.”

He advised the locals who still dwell in areas that have been mapped as ‘high-risk zone’ to relocate to safer places.

Nkurunziza assured that the sector and Rubavu District will facilitate the relocation process, stressing that they were constructing 120 houses that will be handed over to some vulnerable residents who are stuck in high-risk zones.

The body of the deceased was taken to Gisenyi Hospital for post-mortem exam before it is accorded a burial.