JOHANNESBURG: The death toll from flooding in eastern parts of South Africa has risen to nine as rescuers search for children missing after a minibus was swept away, the local government said on Wednesday.
Heavy snowfall and storms have affected areas of the Eastern Cape province, with the entire country experiencing extreme winter weather conditions since last week.
Torrential rains in the OR Tambo district have now claimed nine lives, a statement from the local government said, raising an earlier toll of seven.
The search for missing children aboard a school bus that was swept away by a flood was ongoing early on Wednesday, it added.
Khuselwa Rantjie, spokeswoman for the Eastern Cape Provincial Government, told AFP she could not confirm how many children or adults were on the bus.
Local media have reported that at least 10 children are missing.
Separately, three children were rescued after spending hours in trees to escape rising waters near the city of Mthatha, one of the areas hardest hit.
Several hundred people have been displaced since Monday, according to the government, mainly from OR Tambo and Amathole districts, with some relocated in schools and town halls.
The local authority said it was providing hot meals and essentials to those housed in temporary shelters with support from several government agencies.
The “relentless downpours” also caused landslides and “significant damage to property and infrastructure”, the government added.
South Africa’s national weather service has warned that severe and extreme winter weather conditions would persist until at least the middle of this week.
