Heavy rains claim 2 lives in S Africa

PRETORIA: Tropical storm Eloise which has been affecting South Africa since last weekend has claimed at least two lives, displaced more than 200 others, destroyed infrastructure and left many homeless, said government officials on Tuesday.

"A five-year-old boy was swept while trying to cross a river but there was heavy current," Sam Ngubane, head of Mpumalanga Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) said at a press conference.

"A total of 60 houses were partly destroyed in Bushbuckridge and another 14 from different parts of the province," he said, adding that two people are still missing and the police are searching for them.