Mozambique floods kill 2, destroy homes

Floods in Mozambique have killed two people and left hundreds homeless after heavy rains caused havoc, cutting roads and inundating parts of the capital, authorities said Tuesday.

Heavy rains have caused five major rivers -- including the Zambezi, Africa's fourth longest river system -- to burst their banks, flooding farmland and destroying homes.

"At this moment our big worry is Inhambane (in southern Mozambique)... where we have 800 displaced people," a spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Agency told AFP.

Authorities have set up emergency centres accommodating those who have lost their homes in the floods.

One person drowned crossing a flooded river in the central province of Manhica and another died after getting trapped inside a collapsed building in the central northern Zambezia province.

Parts of the capital Maputo were under water on Tuesday, with several main roads blocked for hours.

"We are monitoring the situation but the information we have is that the rain will ease off over the next two days," Almeida told AFP.

Thirteen years ago, catastrophic floods killed an estimated 800 Mozambicans and destroyed large parts of the country.