The unusual rain began to fall on Wednesday afternoon, continuing to fall until Thursday morning.

The mayor of Gakenke District, Nzamwita Déogratias, said some of the dead were victims of floods that invaded and washed down houses that collapsed on them.

"Many of the roads have been damaged including Kigali-Musanze road where Buranga and Kivuruga roads are closed. The district is set to seek for the services of NPD COTRACO so that they can repair the damaged roads,” he said.

Nzamwita said due to the closure of the road there are traffic flow challenges but which, he assures, will be fixed in a few hours time.

Heavy rains on the night of Thursday, May 7, took lives of eight people in Gakenke District, damaging infrastructure including the Kigali-Musanze road.