In the first incident, a motorcyclist was swept by the floods as he attempted to cross the Mpanga Bridge on the Kyela-Ipinda road.
In another incident that occurred on Wednesday evening, a five-year-old child was also swept by floods that swept across their house. The child is reported to have been playing outside the house in the Ibanda village of Kyela District, Mbeya Region.
Ibanda ward Councilor, Athuman Sampa said; “parents called for help from the neighbours and managed to find the body of the child.”
“The body was buried yesterday in the village,” the ward councilor said, urging parents and guardians to be careful during this rainy season.
Kyela District Council chairman Dr. Hunter Mwakifuna said the impact of the floods is big and they are still gathering information on how many people are in need of humanitarian aid in the district which is on the shores of Lake Nyasa that borders Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania.
“In some areas we visited we found that flood victims are in dire need of relief food, medicine and clean and safe water,” he said appealing to the government and other well-wishers to support the needy in the area.
On his part, Kyela District Commissioner, Dr Thea Ntara confirmed the two deaths and said several houses have also been destroyed by the floods and a number of cattle killed.
DC Ntara said a team of public officials have been dispatched across the district to assess the situation and come up with the real figure of how many people are in need of humanitarian aid in the district.
He identified wards which have been affected by the floods as Kajunjumele, Lusungo, Ndobo, Bujonde, Mwaya, Katumba Songwe and along with most all areas which are close to the rivers and Lake Nyasa.
Early this month, Tanzania Metrological Agency (TMA) issued a weather alert warning ahead of the April heavy rain season warning that the rains will likely cause floods in some parts of the country
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