Still no precise assessment three weeks after the floods that occurred in Bushushu and Nyamukubi in the territory of Kalehe, South Kivu. The political and health authorities, and even the volunteers are struggling to say how many there are missing, and the families of the victims are more worried.
With our special correspondent in Bushushu, William Basimike
Sitting under the mango tree, Miriana Faida has lost her husband. She had six children, she lost four of them: I still haven’t seen their bodies. I don’t know if they were picked up by the Red Cross among the rotting and unrecognizable bodies picked up. »
Prime Minister Sama Lukonde did not give figures during his visit to South Kivu; the Red Cross, and the local authorities estimate that the missing would be counted in the thousands given that the tragedy occurred on the day of the Nyamukubi market, the second territorial market after that of Birava, swept by the floods into the lake Kivu.
Guélor Kabagaya lost 47 members of his extended family in Bushushu. He is worried : ” It is surprising to note that the Prime Minister did not allude to the number of bodies already found, nor of our missing brothers, nor even visited any health facility here. As soon as he arrived, he visited the site of the disaster, then he left for Nyamukubi. It pains us to see that he arrived here without speaking to us. »
For the head of the Bushushu center, Kilosho Asumani Wakilongo, it is impossible to quantify the number of disappeared from Bushushu: “ The exact number is not available because every day we are digging up the bodies. Besides, there are two other bodies that are being extracted. These are young people who were rehearsing in the choir when the floods came. To say the number exactly, before God, is to lie! »
Despite the lack of resources and the difficult working conditions, Red Cross volunteers are still on the ground to pull the bodies from the rubble or buried underground.
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