Heavy torrential rains kill 41 in Angola

41 people have died following heavy torrential rains in the Angolan capital, Luanda on Friday.

The government said 12 out of 18 provinces were hit by a violent downpour which began in the early hours of Monday and caused widespread destruction.

“Here in our area it’s not going well, the rain came down hard. Many houses are flooded. We have no means of transport, everything is bad. We ask the authorities to come and see this situation. Many representatives are passing through but everything is really bad, we don’t know how to do it”, Hernani João Panda, a resident of Cazenga said.

More than 2,000 families have been affected and over 300 homes destroyed as a result of the rains, Interior Minister Eugenio Laborinho said.

He said drinking water and electricity has been cut off in some areas.

The rains come on the back of severe regional drought due to years of erratic rainfall and record-high temperatures.