Over 4,000 people have been cut off from surrounding areas by flood waters near the town of Dondo in the northern Angolan province of Cuanza Norte, where 10,000 people have already been made homeless by floods.

According to official sources on Thursday, the stranded group, from nine villages around the town of Massangano, about 170 kilometers east of the capital, urgently need drinking water and food supplies after taking refuge on high ground from flooding that began nearly a week ago after the River Kapacala burst its banks.

The sources said the government and international relief NGOs have already sent emergency convoys to the afflicted region.

The World Health Organization has sent a specialist epidemiologist to the northern province of Uige, where a suspected outbreak of acute hemorrhagic fever syndrome has claimed dozens of victims since January.

This week, the outbreak had killed seven people and a total of 74 people have now died from the deadly condition, according to health officials in Uige.

Source: Xinhua