At least 13 dead as Easter church roof collapses in South Africa

At least 13 people have died and many were injured when a wall collapsed in South Africa at the start of an Easter service at a Pentecostal church.

The accident happened on Thursday evening in the town of Dlangubo, north of Durban, after heavy rains.

Emergency services said that 29 people were rushed to hospital after the collapse

Disaster management teams have been dispatched and investigations are currently underway into what caused the collapse. However, early reports suggest that the roof collapsed under persistent heavy rains.

KwaZulu-Natal has been battered by severe storms. IPSS Medical Rescue teams told local media that they worked for hours on Thursday as roofs of restaurants and even some houses were blown off during the storms in the Ballito area.

Posting on Facebook, IPSS said that teams attended to four structural collapses, nine accidents, flooding complaints and treated 22 people all related to the storm.

Residents have left no electricity, as well as houses and other establishments,  flooded and personal belongings,  found up to 200m away from there residence, due to the strong winds.

The organization also shared photos on its Facebook page of the destruction left by the storm.