Thousands of Congolese left homeless by landslides

KINSHASA, Dec 29 (Reuters) Weeks of flooding and landslides have left thousands homeless in Democratic Republic of Congo's Eastern Kasai province, local officials said.

Jean-Marie Mpunga, provincial president of the Congolese Red Cross, said yesterday that his colleagues had counted around 3,000 homeless people in the provincial capital Mbuji-Mayi, many of them sheltering with neighbours or relatives.

But he said the real figure could be much higher.

''The number is growing every day,'' he told Reuters, adding aid workers feared the conditions could worsen if more was not done to stop secondary effects such as outbreaks of cholera.

Landslides are common in the region but this year's rainy season has been particularly heavy, with downpours almost every day since November.

Kabesele Tshikunza, a local government official, told local UN radio that more than 6,000 people had been made homeless following the latest wave of flooding and landslides this week.

He said local authorities were ill-equipped to react to the situation on their own and were waiting for assistance from the government in Kinshasa.

Reuters SBA VP0422