Flooding and landslides caused by heavy rain killed at least 19 people in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, by June 14, 2025, according to local authorities cited by the Associated Press. The rain fell from Friday into Saturday and caused serious damage in several neighbourhoods.
The largest reported loss of life was in Ngaliema, a western neighbourhood of the capital. Fulgence Bolokome, the local mayor, told radio station Top Congo that at least 17 people had died there after the rain triggered floods and landslides. He also said two avenues had been cut off, limiting movement through part of the affected area. The supplied report did not identify the victims or give a breakdown between deaths caused by flooding and those caused by landslides.
Two further deaths were recorded in Lemba, in southern Kinshasa. Mayor Jean-Serge Poba said a wall fell during the deluge and killed two people. Resident Clovis Kalenga told the AP that neighbours heard a loud noise at about 3 a.m. and went outside to find the wall had collapsed. A man and his wife died, while their five children escaped without injury, according to Kalenga’s account.
Damage extended beyond homes and blocked streets. The report said a police camp and a bridge were damaged, though it did not state where those sites were, whether they remained usable or how many people were displaced across the city. No estimate of the financial cost was provided. The casualty figure was described as at least 19, leaving open the possibility that authorities’ assessment could change as more information became available.
The disaster followed another deadly episode in the same city only two months earlier. Flooding in Kinshasa in April killed at least 22 people and cut off access to more than half the city as well as the country’s main airport. The supplied evidence does not indicate whether the June rain affected the airport or the same districts, but the recent comparison shows that the capital had experienced repeated fatal flooding within a short period.
For the June event, the available reporting establishes a clear geographical distribution of the confirmed toll: 17 deaths in Ngaliema and two in Lemba. It also attributes those figures directly to the mayors responsible for the two neighbourhoods. Beyond those official accounts and the witness description of the wall collapse, details about rescue operations, emergency shelter, rainfall totals and government relief measures were not included.
The immediate picture on June 14 was therefore one of concentrated loss and infrastructure damage after overnight rain. Floodwater and unstable ground struck western Kinshasa, while a structural collapse caused the two deaths reported in the south. With roads cut, a bridge damaged and the minimum death toll at 19, the rains created another major emergency for the Congolese capital soon after April’s flooding.
