Death toll from South African floods rises to 86

The death toll from floods in South Africa's Eastern Cape province has risen to 86, the country's Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said today.

Mchunu spoke to rescue teams searching for missing people and recovering bodies in and around the eastern town of Mtata, which was hit by flooding on Tuesday, June 10.

He stated that the floods were a great tragedy, but also called on locals to ignore, as he stated, inaccurate reports published on social media, which state that the disaster was caused by the opening of a nearby dam.

Mčunu said the disputed dam did not have the "gates" mentioned in those reports.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday during a visit to Mtata that authorities would investigate whether there were any problems with the local dam that could have caused the flooding.

A wall of water between three and four meters high poured out of the Umtata River, carrying away people and parts of their houses, and trapping others in their homes, the head of the provincial government said.

Ramaphosa partly blamed climate change for the floods and said some of South Africa's coastal regions were now permanently vulnerable to such natural disasters.

Flooding in the Mtata area and neighboring district caught many people off guard, despite warnings from meteorological services that heavy rains and stormy winds were heading towards the region.

The largely rural Eastern Cape region is one of the poorest in the country, and authorities said communities living near the river were particularly vulnerable when it overflowed its banks.

Citizens criticized the authorities for the response of rescuers, but also for the state of the infrastructure in the area.

Officials believe people are still missing and the death toll could rise, with rescue teams searching through floodwaters and damaged homes for nearly a week.

A large number of children were among the dead, and some of the victims were swept away by the floods up to two kilometers from their homes.