Maputo - At least 10 people have been killed in the heavy rains battering several regions of Mozambique since December, the daily paper Noticias reported Tuesday.

Nine people died in central Manica province and one in Inhambane in the south where large areas were also inundated. The rains destroyed properties across the country.

Three children were swept away by waters in the river Nhamatsane in Manica while another was electrocuted when he a fallen electricity wire in the area on New Year's Eve.

Two civil servants were found dead after their car swerved and fell into the river Nhamuari, in the Mossurize district, also in Manica.

A boat capsized in the province's Lucite river, killing a boy and an infant died after falling into a ditch in a settlement in Tambara.

Various roads and motorways in some districts have been cut off from the rest of the country, with foodstuff, medicine and even proper shelter scarce.

In Tete province, 250 people living in flood-prone areas in and around the Zambezi and Shire river basins have been evacuated to safer places as a precaution amid heavy rain upstream in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Mozambique's central region water board (ARA-Centro) warned that water levels in most rivers would continue to rise. Water management teams were on the ground monitoring the situation, though it is not yet possible to assess the full impact of the flooding.

National Disaster Management Institute (INGC) delegate in Tete, Augusto Firmino, said authorities were forced to move people from their homes to safer resettlement centres because of the intensity of the rains.

"INGC has started to provide foodstuff, tents and medicine to affected families in many areas, but the humanitarian work is being hindered by the roads that are impassable. Even the monitoring of the situation is difficult as we cannot move around," he said.

The Cahora Bassa dam began its discharge before the peak of the rainy season in February and March, easing the situation significantly, Firmino said. Since last week, the dam has been releasing 3.500 cubic metres of water into the Zambezi Valley. (dpa)