Flash floods kills at least 155 people in Tanzania

Flooding in Tanzania has killed 155 people and left at least 236 injured, the country’s Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said on Thursday.

More than 10,000 houses have been damaged and upwards of 200,000 people have been affected, Majaliwa told the Tanzanian parliament in the capital Dodoma.

The prime minister added that “the heavy El Nino rains, accompanied by strong winds and flooding and landslides in various parts of the country, have caused adverse effects.”

“These include deaths, damage to crops, homes property, infrastructure like roads, bridges and railways,” Majaliwa said.

The flooding has also affected Kenya, which shares a border with Tanzania in East Africa.

As of Tuesday, at least 32 people had died from the flooding in Kenya, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHR).

Kenya has registered heavy rain since mid-March but downpours have intensified over the past week, leading to mass flooding that has affected around 103,500 people.

The Kenyan Red Cross says it has carried out over 188 rescues since the onset in March. Some roads in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi were closed Wednesday and several neighborhoods remained submerged after another day of heavy rainfall. Kenya Railways also suspended commuter train services nationwide.