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People search following floods in Mokwa, Nigeria, on Friday, May 30. (Chenemi Bamaiyi/AP via CNN Newsource)
By Nimi Princewill, CNN
Abuja, Nigeria (CNN) — Authorities in Nigeria’s northern Niger state say at least 150 people have been killed after floods triggered by heavy rainfall hit Mokwa, a vibrant market town in the largely agricultural state.
Ibrahim Hussaini, a spokesperson for the state’s emergency management agency, told CNN that 151 bodies, including those of “many children” have been recovered as of 9 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) Saturday.
More than 3,000 other people have been displaced, Hussaini said, adding that the death toll could rise as rescuers search for more bodies.
Mokwa resident Hassan Abdullahi, 26, told CNN he lost nine members of his family, including his aged mother, as well as two nieces and nephews aged between 4 and 8 years old when floods submerged their home.
“I feel so bad. How I wish I could bring them (back) alive but no way,” he said, adding that none of their belongings was salvaged from the raging floods.
“We lost everything. Even a single cloth and shoe, we don’t have. Where to sleep, we don’t have. We are in serious pain.”
The West African nation’s disaster relief agency (NEMA) stated in an earlier announcement that the floods struck the Kpege neighborhood of Mokwa early Thursday, “when residents were mostly asleep.”
The Niger state government said the “deadly flood disaster” ravaged two communities in the town “after several hours of heavy downpour” leading to the “loss of many lives” and “buildings submerged.”
It described the incident as “saddening, heartbreaking and pathetic.”
Northern Nigeria is prone to annual floods that often lead to deaths and displacement.
Last year, weeks of flooding across the region caused over 200 deaths and displaced more than 386,000 people, according to data from NEMA, shared with CNN.
The area was also affected in 2022 when Nigeria recorded its worst flooding in more than a decade.
More than 600 people were killed across the country during that incident with more than 1 million people forced out of their homes.
The-CNN-Wire
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