Congo Red Cross halts search for hundreds of flood victims

FILE PHOTO: A general view shows the ruins of a home destroyed following rains that destroyed the remote, mountainous area and ripped through the riverside villages of Nyamukubi, Kalehe territory in South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo May 9, 2023. REUTERS/Djaffar Sabiti

BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - The Congolese Red Cross has suspended its search for hundreds of victims of recent deadly floods in eastern Congo as it lacks the machinery needed to dig through metres of mud and debris, its local representative said on Tuesday.

Red Cross teams have been searching for bodies since early May, when the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi, both in Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu province, were devastated by flash floods that swept away entire homes and killed more than 460 people.