Devastating floods in Mozambique kill 13 people, death toll expected to rise

Mozambique authorities on Thursday reported 13 deaths from severe floods over the past two weeks, though the figure could rise, with aid workers saying they expect more bodies to be found as waters recede.

The country has been hit with heavy rains that caused rivers and dams to overflow, submerging towns and affecting more than half a million people. Parts of neighbouring South Africa were also flooded.

Rain had subsided in some areas by Thursday. Some buildings in the capital Maputo were submerged to their rooftops, and the city was cut off from the rest of the country due to flooding on a major national highway, making areas inaccessible.

Mary Louise Eagleton, representative of the United Nations children's agency (UNICEF) in Mozambique, said she expected the toll of dead and wounded to rise.

'Worst since the year 2000'

"We expect that a large proportion of those who have been swept away or killed by the floods are children," she told Reuters.

Officials describe the flooding as the worst since at least 2000, when around 700 people were killed in Mozambique.

Early-warning systems and mandatory evacuations could mean fewer people may have been killed this time, Paulo Tomas, spokesperson for the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management, said.

"Many people complied by voluntarily leaving the most affected areas," he said, adding that the current death toll could partly be due to "limited access to some areas and the fact that several zones remain submerged."