DODOMA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from flash floods caused by continuing torrential rains in Tanzania has risen to 161, Mobhare Matinyi, chief government spokesperson, said on Friday.
Matinyi, who is also the director of Information Services, told a news conference in the national capital of Dodoma that the death toll climbed from 155, announced by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa on April 25, to 161 last week.
The additional deaths were of six children who died in late April after a house in which they were living collapsed following a heavy downpour in Tanzania's northern region of Shinyanga, said Matinyi.
Majaliwa told the parliament on April 25 that flash floods caused by ongoing torrential rains have left 155 dead and 236 others injured in the East African nation.
He said the flash floods have been reported in 14 out of the 26 regions in Tanzania's mainland, affecting 200,000 people and damaging 10,000 houses.
School infrastructure, farm crops, roads, bridges, health facilities, and livestock were impacted by the floods, said Majaliwa.
The government has taken steps aimed at preventing further catastrophic situations, like ordering the closure of schools in areas severely affected by the floods, Majaliwa said. ■
