BUKAVU, Congo — At least 62 people have been confirmed dead and 50 remain missing after severe flooding swept through villages along Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern South Kivu province, officials said Saturday.

The floods struck at approximately 5 a.m. local time on Friday, inundating the village of Kasaba in the Ngandja sector following intense rainfall.

Witnesses reported that torrents of water washed away homes and severed communication lines in the area.

South Kivu’s provincial health minister, Theophile Walulika Muzaliwa, said ongoing search and rescue operations were being hampered by limited access and resources.

“Sector chiefs, village chiefs and locality chiefs, who are also members of the local government, are on site. The only humanitarian organization currently present is the Red Cross.

It is not possible to give an assessment as body searches are continuing,” Muzaliwa said.

The flooding came just weeks after torrential rains claimed 33 lives in the capital, Kinshasa.

Infrastructure in several parts of the country has suffered repeated damage from extreme weather, while the humanitarian response is under strain due to ongoing conflict in eastern regions.

Clashes between government forces and armed groups escalated in February, exacerbating what the United Nations has described as one of the world’s most severe and underfunded humanitarian crises. — Agencies