Bukavu, April 21: Forty-six people have died in heavy flooding that struck the town of Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, destroying thousands of homes, local officials said on Tuesday, warning the tally could be much higher.

"The updated toll is 30 dead, but it's still very provisional as there are still people trapped in the rubble" of their homes, deputy mayor Kapenda Kyky Kifara told AFP. "It will take weeks to find people who are unaccounted for," he said.

The territory's administrator, Alexis Rashidi Kasangala, said 16 deaths were recorded while 3,600 homes were destroyed on the outskirts of the town.

The UN's High Commissioner for Refugees, in a press conference from Geneva conducted over the internet, said 15,000 homes had been damaged and around 80,000 people had been affected.

Uvira is located in South Kivu province, bordering Lake Tanganyika, connected by road to the provincial capital Bukavu. The region has been pounded by heavy rain in recent weeks, causing the three rivers running through Uvira to burst their banks. The toll last Friday stood at 24.

The UNHCR is working with local authorities and its partners to help victims, its spokesman, Andrej Mahecic, said, noting that the region has been struggling for years with conflict and poor security. Pakistani troops with the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC have been taking part in rescue operations, the mission said in a tweet.

The bishop of Uvira, Sebastien Muyengo, said: "All the bridges connecting us with Bukavu have been swept away. We are worried about hunger and thirst."

He said the town had been hit by a double blow -- rainwater that had swept down from the flanks of the Ruzizi plain, carrying with it mud and rocks, and Lake Tanganyika's rising waters.

Deforestation has increased the risk to the town and unauthorised housing has worsened the toll, he said. Around 15 people have died since the start of the year in Bukavu from flooding and mudslides.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 21, 2020 09:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).