World

Cyclone Idai: Zimbabwe school hit by landslide

March 18, 2019 5:13 am

Two boarding school pupils are among 31 people to have been killed in eastern Zimbabwe by Cyclone Idai.

They were asleep in their dormitory when rocks swept down a mountain and knocked over a wall, officials say.

A further three people are missing after a bus was washed away when the driver tried to cross a flooded river.

Article continues after advertisement

The tropical storm cut off power and communications in Manicaland province, along the border with Mozambique, where about 21 people have died.

The cyclone made landfall in Mozambique on Thursday, with winds of up to 177km/h (106 mph). It cut off more than 500,000 residents in the port city of Beira, one the country’s largest cities. Roads were flooded and the airport was shut down.

Rains and flooding ahead of the storm’s arrival had left about more than 120 people dead in Mozambique and Malawi.