Eastern Cape floods: Death toll rises to 90 as rescue efforts continue
Rescuers continue searching for missing residents nearly a week after the deadly deluge.
The Eastern Cape government has announced a day of mourning on Thursday, 19 June, as international aid arrives.
The death toll in the devastating Eastern Cape floods has risen to 90, Premier Oscar Mabuyane said on Monday.
Of the 90 fatalities, 60 are adults and 30 children.
'Through the Department of Health, post-mortems have been completed on 83 bodies, which have been positively identified, with 77 released to their families,' the provincial government said on Monday afternoon.
Hundreds of residents in Mthatha from the heavily affected village of Decoligny were hit by a deadly deluge that led to their homes being submerged.
Almost a week later, rescuers are still searching for more bodies as some residents remain unaccounted for.
Speaking at a Youth Day event in Cacadu, formerly known as Lady Frere, on Monday, Mabuyane said the provincial government had declared Mthatha a disaster area.
The floods have left a trail of destruction, damaging infrastructure, including bridges, roads, 58 schools, and 20 healthcare centres.
Mabuyane said:
Roads and bridges have been damaged. Power has been cut in several areas. Hundreds of homes, especially in informal, low-lying settlements, have been destroyed.
'Our priority now is to ensure that the people of these communities are accounted for so that we can help families bury their loved ones. After that, the government will speedily work with the people to rebuild and restore their livelihoods.'
Mthatha's King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality said the deadly deluge had overshadowed the Youth Day commemorations.
'As we commemorate National Youth Day, our hearts are heavy with grief. This youth month will be remembered as one of the most tragic in our municipality's history. Yet in the face of adversity, we are witnessing our community's remarkable resilience, compassion, and unity,' the municipality added.
It said it was prioritising lifesaving interventions and working towards restoring critical infrastructure services.
Mabuyane added there was an outpouring of compassion from various countries offering condolences and others providing material assistance, such as the United Arab Emirates and China.
'Our partners, such as Gift of the Givers, the Al-Imdaad Foundation, community organisations, businesses, and neighbours, have opened their doors, shared the little they have, and reminded us that we are stronger when we care for one another.
'These people understand that when disaster strikes, we do not play the blame game because disasters, by their definition, are unexpected events that no one plans,' he said.
Meanwhile, the provincial government declared Thursday, 19 June, a day of mourning for the victims.
It called on residents to report missing persons in areas affected by severe weather conditions around Tuesday, 10 June, to law enforcement as rescue operations continued.
'Our rescue and recovery teams continue to comb affected areas.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News24
40 minutes ago
- News24
At least 5 dead after truck, car collide on KZN highway
At least five people were killed in a 'horrific' collision on the N2 near the Amatikulu River bridge on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast on Saturday morning, according to paramedics. IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson Samantha Meyrick said a truck and a light motor vehicle collided head-on. 'All deceased appear to have been in the same vehicle.' She said the left lane northbound was obstructed by emergency services, and police were still on the scene.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Zelensky Says He'll Meet With Trump After U.S.-Russia Summit Yields No Deal
When the International Criminal Court accused President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia of war crimes in 2023 and issued a warrant for his arrest, the move was largely symbolic because there was little chance he would stand trial. But it immediately jeopardized Mr. Putin's ability to travel to the more than 120 countries that have signed on to the I.C.C. They include almost every nation in Europe and dozens more in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They are all legally required to arrest Mr. Putin and send him to The Hague if he sets foot on their soil. But Mr. Putin's visit to Alaska on Friday highlighted a notable exception. To prevent the world's highest criminal court from being used to prosecute Americans, the United States has long refused to join the I.C.C., created over 20 years ago under the 1998 Rome Statute to handle accusations of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. As a result, the United States is virtually the only country in the West that Mr. Putin can visit without worrying about arrest. Only a handful of other major powers, including China, India, Russia and Israel, have abstained from becoming signatories to the court. Even before the I.C.C. warrant for Mr. Putin was issued, it had been rare for him to travel abroad. He spent the first two years of the Covid pandemic in Russia, a period of isolation that some U.S. intelligence officials speculated might have heightened his appetite for risk and influenced his decision to launch the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The I.C.C. has accused Mr. Putin of bearing criminal responsibility for the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children after Russia launched its invasion. But the court cannot try absent defendants, and Russia, which is not a party to the I.C.C., has dismissed the warrants as 'meaningless.' Though the court has no enforcement mechanism, the symbolic weight of its arrest warrant for Mr. Putin has forced members and nonmembers alike to decide whether they are willing to take the diplomatic risk of hosting a wanted man. That risk has not been enough to stop several countries that are friendly with Moscow — or reliant on it — from welcoming Mr. Putin. Since 2023, he has made repeated visits to China, Belarus and several Central Asian countries. In September, he was given a red-carpet welcome in Mongolia, which is a party to the I.C.C. but depends on neighboring Russia for most of its fuel. Mongolia isn't the only country to have defied its obligation to the court. South Africa did so in 2015, when it allowed Omar Hassan al-Bashir, then the Sudanese president, to fly in and out of Johannesburg while he was wanted by the I.C.C. on accusations of genocide and war crimes in his country's Darfur region. Mr. Bashir remains at large, a prominent example of the court's limitations. Last year, South Africa faced a dilemma over whether to permit Mr. Putin to attend the annual summit of BRICS nations. After months of speculation, the Kremlin announced that Mr. Putin would attend remotely. Mr. Putin is one of only a few sitting leaders facing an outstanding arrest warrant from the I.C.C. Another is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, whom the court last year accused of carrying out war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Mr. Netanyahu's office has categorically rejected what it called 'absurd and false accusations.' The United States, Israel's chief ally, also denounced the I.C.C. warrant for Mr. Netanyahu's arrest, and President Trump has since hosted the Israeli leader three times at the White House.
New York Times
16 hours ago
- New York Times
Mali's Junta Accuses Frenchman of Plot to Overthrow the Military Government
The junta that governs Mali said Thursday that it had foiled an attempted coup and arrested several individuals, including Malian military personnel and a French national it accused of organizing the plot. Mali, a landlocked country in Western Africa, has typified the turmoil that has rocked countries across the Sahel for more than a decade, including Islamist insurgencies, political instability, military takeovers and a decline in their relationship with France, a former colonizer. Among those arrested was a man the government identified as Yann Vezilier, a French citizen whom it accused of being a spy. In a statement broadcast by state television on Thursday, Gen. Daoud Aly Mohammedine, Mali's minister of security, accused Mr. Vezilier of working 'on behalf of the French intelligence service, which mobilized political leaders, civil society actors and military personnel.' The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment or even confirm Mr. Vezilier's nationality. Several other civilians and Malian military officials were also arrested for 'criminal offenses' related to a plot that General Mohammedine said began on Aug. 1. The general released scant other details about the nature or extent of the crimes. Mali has been ruled by a military government since August 2020, when the military exploited widespread public anger over a disputed parliamentary election. A second coup followed just nine months later. France maintained a contingent of troops in the country from 2013 until August 2022, when the junta expelled the forces in exchange for Russian mercenaries. That coup set into action a chain of similar military takeovers across the region, with soldiers seizing power across a belt of countries nine times between 2020 and 2023. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — all ruled by military governments — officially withdrew from the West African alliance known as ECOWAS in January after the bloc pressured them to restore civilian leadership. Since Mali's government came to power, human rights groups have accused it of cracking down on dissent and political opposition.
