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Hunger grips southern Africa as Zimbabwe declares drought a disaster

Harare, Zimbabwe Reuters President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday declared Zimbabwe’s drought a national disaster and said the country needed more than $US2 billion in aid to feed millions facing hunger. Mnangagwa’s statement follows similar announcements by Zambia in late February and Malawi in March, as drought induced by the El Nino global weather pattern triggers […]

South Africa to deploy 2,900 troops to fight armed groups in eastern Congo

Johannesburg, South Africa Reuters South Africa will send 2,900 troops as part of its contribution to the Southern African Development Community force deployed to tackle armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the President’s office said in a statement on Monday. Displaced Congolese people are reflected on a puddle, at the Muchacha primary school, […]

Cyclone Freddy death toll jumps to over 1,000, Malawi President says

People cross a flooded area in Muloza on the border with Mozambique after the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Freddy, around 100 kilometres outside Blantyre, Malawi, on 18th March, 2023.

Blantyre, Malawi Reuters The death toll from Cyclone Freddy has risen sharply to more than 1,000 people, Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera said on Wednesday, as the southern African nation continues to recover from one of the deadliest storms to hit the continent in the last two decades. People cross a flooded area in Muloza on […]

Malawians search for relatives buried under the mud as death toll jumps

Members of the Malawian Army and locals help the community to recover bodies of victims in Chimwankhunda township in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Freddy in Blantyre, Malawi, March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander

Blantyre, MalawiReuters In Malawi, where floods swept away entire villages this month after a storm tore through its southern districts, police officers and soldiers on Friday dug for victims buried under the mud and rocks as the death toll rose sharply. The storm has pounded the southern African country as tropical Cyclone Freddy swept through […]

Survivors in shock as Cyclone Freddy toll passes 400 in Malawi, Mozambique

A drone image of Mtauchira village show the destruction caused by a mudslide in the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy in Blantyre, Malawi, March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander

Blantyre, Malawi Reuters The last thing Lukia Akimu remembers is the surge of floodwater that hit her village near Mount Soche this week when Tropical Cyclone Freddy tore through southern Malawi.  The next thing she knew, she woke up in hospital, her head wrapped in bandages and her neck in a brace.  “I saw a […]

Malawi buries cyclone victims as death toll rises further

Locals in the Chiradzulu district look at the damage on a road after mudslides and rockfalls in the area caused by the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy in Blantyre, Malawi, March 15, 2023

Blantyre, Malawi/Maputo, Mozambique Reuters Malawian families gathered on Wednesday to remember and bury the victims of Tropical Cyclone Freddy, with the President Lazarus Chakwera calling on the international community for support as the toll rose further. Freddy tore through southern Africa for the second time in a month over the weekend and was still causing […]

Despair in Malawi as cyclone Freddy destroys homes and lives

A man walks away from buildings damaged by Cyclone Freddy in Chilobwe, Blantyre, Malawi, March 13, 2023.

Blantyre, Malawi Reuters Residents of Blantyre’s Chilobwe township, one of the areas worst-hit by tropical cyclone Freddy, were woken in the early hours by the roaring sound of mud and water as Malawi was battered by the storm taking a second shot at southern Africa. By Tuesday afternoon authorities had counted 190 people dead in […]

Cyclone Freddy kills 190 in Malawi as rain complicates rescue efforts

Men dig in search of survivors and victims in the mud and debris left by Cyclone Freddy in Chilobwe, Blantyre, Malawi, March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Eldson Chagara.

Blantyre, MalawiReuters Cyclone Freddy, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, has killed 190 people in Malawi after ripping through southern Africa for the second time in a month, Malawi’s government said on Tuesday. The district around the commercial hub of Blantyre was among the hardest-hit. Severe flooding and rain […]