The heavy downpour early in the morning quickly submerged several neighbourhoods of the metropolis of some 17 million people, according to images shared by residents on social media.

"This evening we have a provisional toll of 19 dead: 17 in the commune of Ngaliema and two in Lemba and more than 500 homes flooded in the commune of Matete," Kinshasa province interior minister Thierry Kabuya told AFP, reporting "major material damage due to landslides".

Flooding frequently proves deadly in Kinshasa, which sits on the banks of the Congo River, Africa's second-largest, after the Nile.

Poor maintenance and inadequate sewerage systems have left drainage pipes blocked by rubbish in many poorer neighbourhoods.

Those living in makeshift shacks and quarters with unpaved streets are especially at risk.

Heavy downpours in April killed around 30 people in the capital.

Some 6.9 million people in west and central Africa were affected by torrential rains and severe flooding in 2024, according to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).