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Thirteen people have died in the east of South Africa after a bridge they were crossing collapsed under heavy
rain.
The incident happened in the Mpumalanga province, to the east of Johannesburg, on Monday night when the bridge on the road R65 suddenly gave way.
Torrential rain has been lashing many parts of northern and eastern South Africa over the past few days.
In a separate incident, a storm tore through parts of KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday, bringing large hail stones, torrential rain and strong winds.
Three hundred homes in the city of Ladysmith, which lies between Johannesburg and Durban, were damaged as the storm raged overhead.
Plastic sheeting was distributed to the home owners in an attempt to protect their houses against damaged from further rainfall. However, less than 24 hours later, the majority of the plastic sheeting was blown away, as the strong winds and heavy rain continued to fall across the region.
Fortunately only one person was injured during this storm, but more downpours are expected over the coming few months.
This is the rainy season in eastern and northern parts of South Africa, and the rain is often brought by huge towering thunderstorms.
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