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Floods kill 84 in a week in Mozambique: official

Xinhua, January 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Mozambican government announced in Maputo on Wednesday that so far 84 people have died in a week as a result of the floods affecting the central and north Mozambique.

Speaking at the end of an emergency meeting of the new Mozambican cabinet and the National Institute of Disasters Management (INGC), the Minister of the Public Service and State Administration Carmelita Namashalua told journalists that 55 people were also injured due to the floods.

According to Namashalua, 62 of the deaths occurred in the central province of Zambezia, which is worst affected by the floods affecting a total of 144,330 people.

The spokesperson of the Mozambican cabinet, Mouzinho Saide said that the government considered the situation very serious and instructed all government bodies to give assistance to the victims and those who have been affected by the floods.

Giving updated numbers, Namashalua said that since start of the floods, 13,530 houses have been destroyed by the storms and floods, and Mozambican authorities have set up 34 temporary accommodation centers in Zambezia and nine in Niassa. 29,815 people took shelter in these centers.

The government's 2014/2015 Contingency Plan for the rainy season, approved last November, budgeted a total expenditure of 186 million meticais (about 6.2 million U.S. dollars). So far the Finance Ministry has disbursed 38 million meticais, used to purchase foodstuffs, and for air and river operations to rescue flood victims, transport goods and monitor the situation.

The National Civil Protection Unit (UNAPROC), consisting of staff from the armed forces, police, Red Cross and the national relief agency INGC, is currently using five helicopters, two of them Mozambican and three provided by the South African armed forces.

They are transporting food, medicines and other materials to the districts of Upper Zambezia, where the people have been cut off from the rest of the country by the destruction of bridges on the main north-south highway (EN1).

UNAPROC also has boats positioned at strategic points, including four on the Licungo River, at the Zambezia town of Mocuba. The boats are transporting about 3,000 people and six tonnes of cargo a day between the two banks of the river. Endi