Death toll in South Africa floods rises to 57 as official says rescue attempts were ‘paralyzed’

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The death toll in floods in one of South Africa’s poorest provinces rose to 57 on Thursday as a top official said rescue attempts had been “paralyzed” by a lack of resources.

Rescue teams are still working through debris and floodwater to find missing people after heavy rain caused a river to burst its banks in the predawn hours of Tuesday. Floods hit the nearby town of Mthatha and surrounding areas, sweeping away victims along with parts of their houses and cars.

Oscar Mabuyane, the premier of Eastern Cape province, said the floods struck while many people were asleep. The water was 3-4 meters (10-13 feet) high when it flowed out of a river and into nearby communities, he added.

“It’s a terrible situation,” Mabuyane told state TV broadcaster SABC. “It happened at the wrong time.”

Mabuyane said local authorities struggled to launch an effective rescue effort as the disaster happened in what he described as a region lacking resources.

He said the largely rural Eastern Cape province in southeastern South Africa, which is home to around 7.2 million people, only has one rescue helicopter. It came to Mthatha from the city of Gqeberha, more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) away.

He also said the region does not have any specialist rescue divers or K-9 dog units, meaning they had to be called in from elsewhere to help with the search.

“When things like this happen, we are always found wanting,” said Mabuyane. “We are paralyzed.”

People were stranded on rooftops and in trees

Rescue teams on Wednesday brought bodies out of the water in blue body bags. Witnesses said many people had taken refuge on the tops of buildings or in trees and some were heard calling for help for hours.

Provincial government officials previously said they believed people were still missing but did not give an exact number. There was no immediate update on Thursday whether authorities believed all those who were not accounted for had been found.

The death toll rose to 57, according to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa, who led a national government delegation to the province to visit the scene.

“This is a real disaster and a catastrophe when we have so many people dying,” Hlabisa said. He added that part of the problem was that many people in the area were living on a flood plain close to the river.

The missing had included four high school students who were swept away when their bus was caught up in the floods on its way to school early Tuesday morning. Authorities did not immediately say if those four children were among the latest bodies retrieved.

Six students who were on the bus had already been confirmed dead, along with the driver and another adult. Three other students were rescued after clinging onto trees and calling out for help, according to the provincial government.

The floods hit the province after an extreme cold front brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to parts of eastern and southern South Africa. The floods centered on Mthatha and its surrounding district, which is around 430 kilometers (267 miles) south of the east coast city of Durban. Forecasters had warned about the damaging weather last week.

Officials said at least 58 schools and 20 hospitals in the Eastern Cape were damaged, while hundreds of families were left homeless after their houses were submerged or washed away. Critical infrastructure including roads and bridges was also badly damaged, Mabuyane said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that he would travel to the Eastern Cape on Friday “to see exactly how our people are suffering there and see how we can console the families.” Ramaphosa announced earlier in the week that he had activated the National Disaster Management Center to help local authorities in the Eastern Cape.

Some opposition political parties criticized the government, with the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party saying the tragedy was a result of “government neglect” in parts of the Eastern Cape.

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