Dar floods death toll rises to 12 with recovery of more bodies

Dar es Salaam. The death toll from widespread flooding in Dar es Salaam has risen to 12, police said yesterday.

This is an increase of four deaths on the previously announced toll.

As rains subside and some flooded areas dry up, the damage caused by the downpours that have lashed the city in the past fortnight will become more apparent, Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone Commander Suleiman Kova said.

Mr Kova urged Dar residents to cooperate with police and report any case of death in the areas affected.

The bodies of four victims were still at Muhimbili National Hospital and Mwananyamala Hospital yesterday.

Mr Kova identified one of the dead as a 13-year-old resident of Mburahati and a Form one Student at Kigogo Secondary School, whose body was retrieved in rubble after a wall collapsed on him.

Another body, believed to be that of a man aged between 35 and 40, was discovered yesterday in the muddy swamps near Msimbazi River in Magomeni,  Kinondoni District.

An unidentified woman aged between 40 and 45 years also drowned and her body was found in Kinondoni Mkwajuni on Saturday.

On Friday, another victim, identified as 28-year-old Gervas Shayo, a  resident of Mbezi Juu, was found dead in Mbezi Beach.

He was reportedly heard screaming for help before his body was retrieved from a flooded area.

Relatives took the body to Mwananyamala Hospital where it was awaiting a postmortem investigation.