South Africa's Ramaphosa urges Good Friday prayers for flood victims
A general view of a crack in the road following heavy rains and winds in Durban, South Africa on April 12, 2022.
President Cyril Ramaphosa called for prayers for flood-stricken people in South Africa during a Good Friday church speech as the death toll from the disaster reached nearly 400.
As rescuers widened the search for dozens still missing five days after the disaster struck the southeastern coastal city of Durban and surrounding areas, the official toll rose to 395 dead.
"Let us pray for our people in KwaZulu-Natal (province) so that they receive the healing that is required... so that they can get on with their lives," he told El-Shaddai Tabernacle church congregants in the eastern town of Ermelo.
He said the floods were "a catastrophe of enormous proportions that we have not seen before in our country, that so many people can die".
Ramaphosa said he had visited a family that lost 10 members, including children.
"That was one of the saddest moments I experienced, even as president," he said during a service broadcast live on local television networks.
He said the pain and suffering that relatives of victims experienced "will last for years because some of them just saw their family members just being swept away by the water as they watched unable to rescue them, reaching out with their hands to hold them but the power of the water just took them away".
The floods have affected some 41,000 people.
