FOUR people have drowned and 8 others were seriously injured following three hours of heavy downpours that pounded Dar es Salaam on Tuesday morning.

In Musoma, over 20 households in Saragana Village in Musoma Rural District, have been destroyed by heavy rains that have left dozens of residents homeless. According to the village’s executive officer Rehema Lebayo, the rains pounded the village for about half an hour on Saturday night.

Ms Lebayo said three people were wounded by stones when their house roofs were blown off by strong wind injuring people in their houses.

The Nyambono Ward councillor where the village is situated, Mr Greyson Mfungo, called on the district government to provide humanitarian aid to the homeless.  Speaking after touring the area, Mr Mfungo observed that victims were now housed by their neighbours, a situation that is not sustainable in the long run.

Apart from being homeless, Mr Mfungo said the families are also without food because the rains also destroyed their food stocks. He added that the rain also destroyed crops in the farms.

The Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr Saidi Meck Sadiki, told the 'Daily News' in a telephone interview that four bodies were recovered from different areas of the city that were submerged in flood waters.

"So far, we can confirm that 4 people have lost their lives, and 8 others suffered serious injuries," said the RC who is also the chairman of the region's disaster committee.

He named areas that were severely hit by flashfloods as Tabata Valley, Kigogo, Mburahati (Ilala municipality), Tandale, Kwa Mtogole and Magomeni (Kinondoni municipality), a junction of Temeke and Kilwa road (Temeke municipality).

Mr Sadiki mentioned the names of the deceased as Ibrahim Tulihama,65, Maganga Saidi aged between 10 and 15, a woman, Gathi Mseti,39, and a baby whose identity was not known. He said the woman died after an electric post fell on her.

The RC added that Maganga Saidi was struck by lightning at his Mbagala home in Temeke.
"The remains of the victims have been preserved at Amana Hospital in Ilala pending burial arrangements," he said.

He said the injured were taken to Amana Hospital for medical treatment.

Mr Sadiki also said that the Msewe Bridge at Ubungo area in Kinondoni municipality was washed away by the floods and so were several city roads.

He quoted the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA), as saying that the rains would continue to fall for some days.

In a random survey, the 'Daily News' established that a number of Jangwani Valley residents along Morogoro Road had evacuated to the roadside, waiting for the floods to subside.

"We have been waiting since morning; I have a granddaughter trapped inside the house," said an old lady, who preferred anonymity. She was in the company of two granddaughters and two sons.

Reports from Morogoro say that flash floods have destroyed the railway at Gulwe Station in Kilosa District. The Tanzania Railways Limited thus suspended the passenger train on the central line on Tuesday.

In Dodoma rains accompanied by strong winds have destroyed 74 houses, leaving 269 residents of Ntyuka and Iyumbu homeless, according to Acting Dodoma Municipal Council Director, Nicolaus Buretta.

Meanwhile, a pedestrian died after being hit by a car near Mwananyamala Hospital along Mwinjuma Road in Kinondoni municipality on Monday.

According to the Kinondoni Regional Police Commander (RPC), Mr Charles Kenyela, the accident occurred at around 2:15 pm. He said the body was taken to Mwananyamala Hospital pending collection by his relatives.

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