In a devastating display of nature’s fury, severe flooding triggered by an extreme cold front has claimed at least 49 lives in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, officials confirmed on Wednesday. The heavy rain and snow that swept across parts of the country have plunged the region into crisis, with lives—among them, those of six high school students—shattered by the rising floodwaters.

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane announced that police figures account for the fatalities, highlighting the grim incident in which a school bus, caught in rapidly rising waters near a river, washed away its occupants. In addition to the confirmed deaths, four students remain missing, and Mabuyane warned that as rescue teams continue their work, further bodies are being discovered.

Disaster response teams, working in Eastern Cape as well as neighboring KwaZulu-Natal, have been mobilized to manage the fallout—rescuing displaced residents, assessing damage, and providing critical assistance under conditions exacerbated by widespread power outages affecting hundreds of thousands of homes.

The region has been hit hard: houses have been submerged or destroyed and vehicles swept away by the relentless floodwaters. With infrastructure severely compromised across affected communities, officials are grappling with the logistics of reaching those most in need amid the chaos unleashed by this violent weather system.

As search and rescue operations press on, local authorities reiterate that the death toll is likely to climb. The catastrophic weather event has not only claimed lives but has also rendered entire communities vulnerable, highlighting the growing threat of extreme weather events driven by changing climatic patterns.

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