At least 38 people have died with 82 others been injured in heavy rains and floods in Tanzania’s northwest, officials said Wednesday. Torrential rains, hail and high winds hit Kahama district in Shinyanga region late on Tuesday, a statement from the office of President Jakaya Kikwete said, expressing his “shock and extreme grief”.

Officials said an estimated 3,500 people in the region, a poor farming area south of Lake Victoria and near the Serengeti game reserve, had been affected by the flooding.