More than 400 people have been killed in flash floods in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo - making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in the country's recent history, Sky News reports.
More bodies were recovered on Monday after floods devasted two villages - Bushushu and Nyamukubi - in the Kalehe territory of the country.
It comes days after torrential rain, which began on Thursday, triggered landslides and caused rivers to break their banks.
Local civil society sources said the recovered bodies were wrapped in bags and piled into mass graves over the weekend.
On Friday, it was reported that at least 176 people had been killed, as humanitarian workers dug through the remains of the flattened villages to recover mud-caked bodies from the debris with hundreds of people still missing.
But according to the latest reports, that number has now more than doubled.
Speaking to the Reuters news agency, South Kivu governor Theo Ngwabidje Kasi said the death roll now stood at 401, but he did not provide further details.
"It is the worst flood we have ever had," civil society representative Christian Zihindula Bazibuhe said, adding that bodies were still floating on Lake Kivu.
The Congolese government declared Monday as a national day of mourning, with flags to fly at half-staff in memory of the victims.
According to a government spokesperson, a delegation of government officials and lawmakers sent by Congo's president, Felix Tshisekedi, arrived in Bukavu - a city near the southern part of Lake Kivu - and planned to visit the devastated area on the same day.
