No fewer than nine individuals have died and eight individuals have been declared lacking after a flash flood swept away members of a church congregation performing rituals alongside the Jukskei River in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The South African authorities introduced the church tragedy on Sunday.
Rescue employees who initially discovered two useless our bodies on Saturday, later found seven further corpses Sunday morning.
However, they disclosed that eight individuals have been nonetheless lacking as an ongoing search for them was already underway.
In South Africa, water rituals are prevalent, significantly close to the Jukskei River, the place a big quantity of spiritual folks ceaselessly assemble to carry out baptism and different purification rituals.
Robert Mulaudzi, the spokesperson for the Johannesburg Emergency Services, disclosed residents had been warned a number of occasions to train warning whereas performing their spiritual rituals due to the elevated rainstorms in the metropolis.
“We have been receiving a lot of rain on the city of Johannesburg in the last three months, and most of the river streams are now full. Our residents, especially congregants who normally practise these kinds of rituals, will be tempted to go to these river streams,” Mr Mulaudzi defined at a press briefing.
He added, “Our message for them is to exercise caution as and when they conduct these rituals.”