The heavy rains that battered Durban and other areas in KwaZulu-Natal have claimed six lives in different places.

The death toll is expected to rise as disaster teams are still combing affected areas across the province.

The provisional death toll was announced by the eThekwini Municipality, confirming four deaths, while KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi added others while speaking in Pietermaritzburg. 

The four fatalities in eThekwini were reported in Folweni, KwaMakhutha, Demat and Ensimbini after a wall collapsed while the occupants were asleep.

“Emergency services including the City’s Disaster Management, Fire Department, as well as the South African Police Service, Pathology, and Emergency Medical Services, urgently responded to the scene where people were found trapped under rubble.

“The team worked through the night to aid the trapped victims. Unfortunately, four people died which include a 45-year-old male in KwaMakhutha, a 13-year-old male in Folweni, a 12-year -old female in Demat and a 13-year-old female in Ensimbini. Rescue operations are underway with reported entrapments in the Adams Mission area,” the eThekwini municipality said in a statement.

Other affected areas in eThekwini include Amanzimtoti, Morton, Clairwood and Isiphingo – all in the south of the city.

Buthelezi said other deaths also occurred in other parts of the province. 

“Yesterday in eShowe we received a report that a child was swept away while trying to cross a river. Also in this situation, our teams are on the ground trying to recover the body,” Buthelezi said. 

Elsewhere, there have been reports of flooded rivers and uprooted trees that are blocking roads in urban areas.