Heavy rains and strong winds have claimed three lives in Huye, a district in southern Rwanda leaving infrastructure damaged over the weekend, a senior local administrative official in the region revealed on Monday.
A heavy downpour since last Saturday caused a landslide which destroyed over 170 houses in the area.
Local residents said that one of the male victims, who was coming from a bar in Gafumba, drowned when heavy floods and winds swept through the Musyori stream.
In Kaburemera village (South), storm and heavy rains also claimed an 81 year old man who was killed instantly after a house wall fell on top of him as he tried to make his way out, reports said.
The seasonal forecast for September to December indicates that swathes of northern and southern Rwanda will experience heavy rainfall ranging between 500 and 600 millimeters.
Official data by the Emergency Management Ministry indicates that 290 people lost their lives and 398 were injured in different natural disasters since last year, while up to 5,968 hectares of crops and 458 hectares of forests were also destroyed.
Some 8,013 houses, 95 classrooms, four health centers, 151 roads, 102 bridges, 22 churches, 26 water supply facilities, and 96 electricity transmission lines were also destroyed, according to the ministry.
CU/as/APA