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| National |
| Four die in Mangochi floods |
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by
Emmanuel Muwamba, 10 March 2006
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04:47:26
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Four people—a police officer and three civilians—have been killed by the floods that hit Mangochi on Sunday and Monday, The Nation has learnt.
“I can confirm that one of them is a police officer but I don’t have all the details handy,” said Police spokesperson Willie Mwaluka.
Jennifer Mapanga, from Kantumbile Village in T/A Mponda, about 200 metres from a damaged Namingundi Bridge, told The Nation crew that visited the area the three civilians, two from the same family, were swept away and died when they were gathering pumpkins after the first flood water had passed.
“They went to gather pumpkins that were brought by the floods. In the process, another wave of water from the hills found them in the gardens and they were washed away,” said Mapanga.
A resident at the Boma told The Nation police officers confided in him that a police officer near Malindi was swept off by running water when he was trying to cross a river.
“They used fish cast nets to fetch the dead body out of the lake,” said the source.
Meanwhile, Mangochi District Director of Planning and Development Harry Chipeni said 334 hectares of cultivated land have been damaged by the floods.
He said so far there have only received pledges from the Department of Poverty and Disaster Management Affairs that it will send relief items for 400 households.
Commissioner for the Department Meria Nowa-Phiri could not shed light on how soon her department was going to help flood victims in Mangochi, saying she was in a meeting.
But Deputy Minister for Information and Tourism John Bande on Thursday said government was looking into the matter of helping the victims and also ensuring that the Mangochi-Monkey Bay Road is rehabilitated as soon as possible.
“A taskforce of engineers and health personnel has already been dispatched to the area. By end of next week everything will be back to normal and health risks contained,” Bande said.
Incessant heavy rains in Mangochi have caused extensive damage to some public infrastructure, private property and crops since Sunday and Monday.
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