HARARE- Zimbabwe is mobilising humanitarian support for victims of disastrous heavy rains in Rwanda which claimed dozens of lives in the country’s Northern, Western and Southern provinces.
The flood and landslide-induced disasters which occurred on the night between May 2 and May 3, claimed 131 lives, and displaced over 9,000 people, destroyed or damaged 6,206 houses, among other infrastructure such as roads, hydropower plants and factories.
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Global leaders have conveyed their condolences to Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame over the disastrous heavy rains in the country.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa told journalists during a post Cabinet media briefing in Harare that the southern African country will mobilise humanitarian support for the victims of the disaster.
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Mutsvangwa said Zimbabwe’s Minister of Local Government and Public Works, July Moyo, while briefing Cabinet on the consignment of donations that will be sent to Malawi to assist flood victims, pointed out that Harare would mobilise humanitarian support to support Rwanda.
Zimbabwe is sending humanitarian support to Malawi where around 500,000 people were affected by floods, mudslides and wind damage following the passage of Tropical Cyclone Freddy in southern Malawi.
Reports say 326 people lost their lives while as many as 800 people sustained injuries.
The assistance mobilized for Malawi include cement, wooden housing units, mealie meal, clothes, shoes, an assortment of other goods, such as detergents, sanitary pads and medical supplies.
Mutsvangwa said such support will be extended to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
"The Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Hon. July Moyo briefed Cabinet on the consignment of donations that will be sent to Malawi to assist flood victims,” said Mutsvangwa, adding; "Zimbabwe is also mobilising similar support for victims of recent floods in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as Rwanda.”
At least 411 people are now known to have died in intense flooding and landslides that hit the DRC’s South Kivu province last week.
About 5,500 people are still missing and thousands of survivors have been left homeless.
Rwanda’s Cabinet meeting on Monday, May 8, approved an emergency response plan aimed at reinforcing efforts to provide urgent relief to communities affected by disasters, and instructed concerned institutions to implement the plan without delay.