No fewer than 72 bodies have been recovered from a village in east Democratic Republic of Congo that was earlier hit by flood.

The provincial government in a statement on Thursday said torrential rain that fell in Congo’s South Kivu province and caused the river to overflow had led to significant damage and loss of life in the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi.

Humanitarian workers recovering bodies from the debris counted at least 72 bodies, many of whom were women and children, a Reuters reporter in Bushushu said.

According to the reporter, the weather had cleared, revealing flattened houses and corrugated iron roofs jutting out from beneath thick layers of mud.

Haggard-looking survivors stood outside a wooden shed in which Red Cross workers in blue scrubs piled bodies on top of each other.

Many had lost clothing and were covered in dirt.

Local administrator Thomas Bakenga said on Thursday that at least 17 people had been killed in the floods and that around 40 people were missing.

Floods and landslides are not uncommon occurrences in South Kivu province.

According to the United Nations, the last incident of a similar scale occurred in October 2014, when a bout of heavy rainfall destroyed over 700 homes.

More than 130 people were reported missing at the time. 

(Reuters/NAN)