SW News: More than 5,500 people are still missing in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo ravaged by floods. So far, the official death toll remains at where floods claimed more than 400 lives, according to a local authority.

Aid workers found more bodies among the muddy devastation, and wounded residents succumbed to their injuries in an underequipped local clinic on Tuesday, May 9.

Five days ago, flooding ravaged the riverbank communities of Nyamukubi and Bushushu in the remote, mountainous South Kivu province, razing homes, ruining crops, and killing more than 400 people. This natural calamity was reportedly the deadliest in the modern history of DR Congo.

The authorities are recovering the bodies following the devastating flood. Videos shared online show survivors watching as aid workers heap corpses into freshly dug mass graves.

Days of torrential rain triggered landslides and caused rivers to break their banks. The United Nations estimates that thousands of people are still missing.

Meanwhile, the Congolese Red Cross says that 274 people, including 98 women and 82 children, have lost their lives so far. The floods destroyed homes and schools and blocked off highways displacing more than 8000 people.

The floods are the latest major disaster in Africa, highlighting the vulnerability of countries with poor urban planning and weak infrastructure to the impacts of climate change.