Flooding worsens in Mozambique and Malawi

South African helicopters have continued efforts to evacuate people stranded in Mozambique by rising flood waters from the Zambezi river.

But reports say that there were again signs of reluctance among some flood victims to leave their possessions.

At least fifty two people have been killed by the flooding and the UN's World Food Programme says it is now feeding some seventy thousand displaced people in evacuation camps. Around four hundred thousand people are said to have been affected by the floods. In neighbouring Malawi, continuing heavy rains have also made the flooding worse, with fifteen confirmed deaths.

The government has declared a state of disaster and officials said over three hundred thousand people have been displaced and are in urgent need of food, shelter and other aid.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service