At least 47 people killed and 85 injured by landslides in Tanzania

At least 47 people have been killed and 85 others injured in landslides caused by flooding in northern Tanzania, a local official has said, with warnings the toll would rise.

Heavy rain on Saturday hit the town of Katesh, 300km (186 miles) north of the capital, Dodoma, district commissioner Janeth Mayanja said on Sunday. “Up to this evening, the death toll reached 47 and 85 injured,” Queen Sendiga, regional commissioner in the Manyara area of northern Tanzania, told local media. Both warned that the death toll was likely to increase.

Mayanja added that many roads in the area had been blocked by mud, water and dislodged trees and stones. Livestock had also reportedly been swept away.

Tanzania’s president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, in Dubai for the Cop28 climate conference, sent her condolences and said she had ordered the deployment of “more government efforts to rescue people”.

Images broadcast on state television, TBC, showed many flooded homes and vehicles stuck in thick mud.

After experiencing an unprecedented drought, east Africa has been hit by weeks of torrential rain and flooding. The downpours have displaced more than 1 million people in Somalia and left hundreds dead.

In May, torrential rains caused devastating floods and landslides in Rwanda that killed at least 130 people.

Climate breakdown is causing more intense and more frequent extreme weather events, scientists say. In response, African leaders are pushing for new global taxes and changes to international financial institutions to help fund action on the climate crisis.

Agence France-Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report.