Kinshasa, April 8th, 2025 (CPA) – More than 1,500 people affected by the floods caused by the torrential rain that fell on Friday night in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, have been provisionally accommodated at the Tata Raphaël site in the center of the Congolese capital, CPA noted on Monday.
“So far, we have received more than 1,500 victims of the floods caused by last Friday’s and Saturday’s rain, and we have distributed them between the two large sports halls. There are already more than 800 adults and the rest are children,” said Dr. Jean Dennis Balaku of the provincial Ministry of Health. “We are continuing to receive others who have already been registered by the Red Cross,” he added. He pointed out that the services of the provincial Ministry of Health are working in synergy with the Red Cross, the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (Cousp) and the Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi Foundation, which has mobilized resources to help the victims.
“We have received mattresses, blankets and basic necessities which have been transported to the two gymnasiums made available to the victims by the Kinshasa provincial government”, said Dr. Balaku. “We’ve been asked to go to the Tata Raphaël stadium, where a site has been set up to register families affected by the floods. I’ve been stricken for three days, I have no clothes, no food, all my belongings have been washed away by the waters of the N’djili river”, said Gédéon Tshimanga, a stricken person from the De bonhomme district in Matete, in central Kinshasa. “We need moral and financial support to cope with the loss of our belongings, because we don’t know where to start,” he said.
Head of State Félix Antoine Tshisekedi, accompanied by his wife Denise Nyakeru, paid a comforting visit to the disaster victims housed at the Tata Raphaël stadium. He assured them that the government was doing its utmost to provide effective responses to their concerns. CPA/