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Four people have died in separate incidents in Isoka district in Muchinga Province after being swept away by a strong current following heavy rains being experienced in the area.
Isoka District Commissioner, Ringford Mutambo, confirmed the incident to the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Isoka.
Mr Mutambo said two people died in Milongo after they were swept away by a strong current in the flooded Kaumba River.
Mr Mutambo said the deceased were school-going children, adding that one was in Grade 5 and the other in Grade 7 at Chewa Basic School.
In Mweniwise Chiefdom, the district commissioner said two more people died after being swept away by a strong current as they attempted to cross the flooded Ntonga River.
Mr Mutambo said the third person is missing and feared dead after being swept away by the same fast-running waters.
Meanwhile, 20 households in Kampumbu agricultural block in Isoka district in Muchinga Province have been left homeless after their mud houses collapsed following heavy rains the area is experiencing.
Isoka District Commissioner, Ringford Mutambo, who confirmed the development, said 25 hectares of maize and groundnuts fields have been submerged.
Mr Mutambo also said several goats, pigs and other local poultry have been washed away by the flood waters of the Luangwa River due to the torrential rains being experienced.
He said a team of government officials dispatched to assess the damage have reported that maize and groundnuts fields have been submerged, posing a great threat to household food security.
The DC said people in the area have since been advised to relocate to higher grounds in order to safeguard their lives, adding that more people could have died if flood waters found them sleeping.
Nine houses have collapsed in Mutoba Village, four in Lameck and seven in Yotamu in Chief Katyetye Chiefdom.
The headman Mutoba said the flooding occurred on Wednesday last week around 19: 00 hours when people were preparing to go to sleep and only saw houses collapsing forcing them to run to higher grounds for safety.
Explaining the ordeal, headman Mutoba said livestock and food stuffs were swept in the process but no life was lost.
He said floods of similar nature occurred in 1952, adding that in recent years floods in the Luangwa River have not been as devastating as they are this time around.
And senior Village headman Kampumbu, Christopher Mutambo, is appealing to the office of the Vice President for relief food and temporary shelter.
