UPDATE: #KZNstorms death toll rises, as more bodies are recovered

Search teams pulled the bodies of a mother and her 6-year-old child have from the rubble a short while ago.

There are differing figures on the ground as to the total number of bodies retrieved so far.

Local government authorities say seven bodies have been recovered while emergency services officials have put the figure at eight. 

Paramedics say two other people have been taken to hospital.

Family members screamed and cried hysterically as search and rescue members carried the bodies of their loved ones into the mortuary van a few minutes ago.

It is understood three families were inside the house when a bank washed into the building. 

Emergency personnel had been working on the scene for hours, using a TLB to try and get to those still trapped in the house. 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Nomusa Dube-Ncube thanked all rescue personnel for their efforts.

NOW READ: At least 23 killed in severe KZN weather: COGTA

In another tragedy in Chatsworth, the bodies of a 17-year-old mother and her two-year-old daughter were earlier today recovered from the rubble of their home in Bottlebrush.

In a separate incident in Malvern, seven bodies were found in a home that also collapsed on Ellen Road, near Queensburgh. 

Dube Ncube says the numbers are expected to rise as search operations continue. 

A little earlier, she updated the death toll from the heavy rains over the last couple of days to 32. 

"We are now standing at 32 - the number of people that we have collected from various stations. There are still bodies that are missing. We will be updating information as we go through when we go through with the police as well as the Health Department." 

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