Severe flooding and landslides have killed at least 47 people and wounded 80 others in northern Tanzania, local officials say, Paralel.Az reports citing BBC.

It happened near the slopes of Mount Hanang, where President Samia Hassan has now deployed national security forces to help rescue efforts.

Homes and infrastructure were also damaged by the adverse weather.

Flooding is said to be the greatest natural hazard in Tanzania, affecting tens of thousands of people each year.

East Africa has been badly hit by floods and landslides in 2023, partly caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Last month in Tanzania, higher than usual rainfall resulted in deaths and destruction to property in the capital Dar es Salaam and the areas of Kigoma, Kagera, Geita and Unguja.

Crops in some parts of the country have been washed away, affecting people's livelihoods.

Tanzania's meteorology agency has warned that the rains will continue this month.

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At least 20 people have been killed by floods after heavy rain in the Manyara region of northern Tanzania, the ministry of health said on Sunday.

Severe flooding caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon has killed hundreds of people in Kenya and Somalia in recent weeks. The rains have also left a trail of destruction, ruining infrastructure like roads and submerging towns in East Africa, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

"We are very shocked by this event," President Samia Suluhu Hassan said in a video message posted online by the Tanzanian ministry of health.

She directed security agencies, the ministry of health and other relevant bodies to put in all efforts into ongoing search and rescue efforts to prevent more deaths.

The more than 20 people were killed in Katesh village in the Hanang district of Manyara, the president said.