The capital struggles as the Ndjili River overflows, leaving drivers stranded, and infrastructure collapses.

Heavy rains have triggered severe flooding from a key river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo capital Kinshasa, killing some 30 people and destroying homes and roads.

Provincial Health Minister Patricien Gongo provided the death toll on Sunday but stressed it was “provisional”.  Most of the fatalities in the deluge, he added, were caused by collapsing walls.

The Ndjili River, which cuts through the teeming city of nearly 17 million people, burst its banks on Friday night, submerging the main national road. Motorists were left stranded for hours, with some spending the entire night in their cars.

“On the way home from the airport last night to welcome a friend, we spent the night in the car because there was no safe place to park,” Patricia Mikonga, a Kinshasa resident, told Reuters news agency.

Many neighbourhoods were plunged into darkness, while others suffered water shortages.

Kinshasa Governor Daniel Bumba Lubaki said water infrastructure had been damaged but assured residents that supply would be restored within days. Speaking on state television, he blamed illegal housing for some of the deaths and warned that people living in unplanned settlements could face eviction.

Raphael Tshimanga Muamba, a hydrologist, said human activity had worsened the river’s condition over time.

“These are anthropogenic actions where rivers are degraded; their dimensions no longer represent their initial capacity to contain floods,” he told Reuters.

The flooding comes as the country faces mounting instability with conflict in the eastern part of the country. Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have ramped up attacks there since the start of the year, with more than 7,000 people killed and millions displaced in recent months.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies