Latest news with #Mokwa
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Death toll reaches 151 in north-central Nigerian town submerged in floods, with thousands displaced
The death toll from devastating flooding in a market town in Nigeria's north-central state of Niger rose to at least 151 on Saturday, the local emergency service said, amid efforts to find more victims. Torrents of predawn rainfall early Thursday unleashed the devastating flood on Mokwa, nearly 380 kilometers (236 miles) west of Abuja and a major trading and transportation hub where northern Nigerian farmers sell beans, onions and other food to traders from the south. The spokesperson for the Niger State emergency service, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, confirmed the updated fatality count to The Associated Press on Saturday. In addition to the rising death toll, 11 people were injured and more than 3,000 people were displaced, the official added. At least 500 households across three communities were affected by the sudden and intense flood that built rapidly in about five hours, leaving roofs barely visible and surviving residents waist-deep in water, trying to salvage what they could and rescue others. Husseini added that two roads were washed away and two bridges collapsed. In a statement on Friday night, President Bola Tinubu expressed condolences and said he had directed the activation of an emergency response to support victims and 'accelerate' recovery. He said that security agencies have also been asked to assist in emergency operations, which remain underway amid concerns that more bodies could be recovered in remote areas. 'Relief materials and temporary shelter assistance are being deployed without delay,' the president said, promising 'no Nigerian affected will be left behind or unheard of.' Flooding is common during Nigeria's wet season. Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season. But this flood has been particularly deadly in Mokwa, a farming region near the banks of the River Niger. Mokwa community leader Aliki Musa told the AP the villagers are not used to such flooding. The chairman of the Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, told local news website Premium Times that construction of flood-control works was long overdue. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Malay Mail
7 hours ago
- Climate
- Malay Mail
Rescuers fan out as over 150 dead, thousands displaced after Nigeria flooding wrecks market town
ABUJA, June 2 — Search teams fanned out Saturday from the epicentre of deadly flash flooding in Nigeria, the Red Cross said, as the death toll from heavy rains in the north-central market town of Mokwa topped 150. The sharp rise in the toll came as bodies were recovered nearly 10 kilometres from the town, where more than 250 buildings were levelled and two bridges were swept away, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, told AFP. Husseini said the toll could rise further, with bodies being swept down the powerful Niger River. Gideon Adamu, head of the Red Cross in Niger state, told AFP that search teams were heading toward Jebba, on the opposite side of the waterway's swampy banks. Mokwa was hit by torrential rains Wednesday night into Thursday, with the flooding displacing more than 3,000 people, Husseini said. There were 121 injured in hospital, Adamu said, and more than 100 people were missing. Nigeria's rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year. Heavy rains and poor infrastructure lead to flooding that wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the west African country. Scientists have also warned that climate change is fuelling more extreme weather patterns. 'We can't give up' Roads were still inundated in Mokwa on Friday, an AFP journalist saw, with Husseini saying his team would need excavators to reach bodies feared buried under the rubble. Residents in the town, around 350 kilometres by road from the capital Abuja, were still searching for relatives. In some cases, families were missing a dozen people. 'We can't give up the search as long as there are families crying out,' said Adamu, the Red Cross chief. 'If there were some bodies that were carried away by the flooding, we'll find them in the farmland on the Jebba side.' According to a tally provided by Husseini, 151 people were killed, 3,018 were displaced, 265 houses were destroyed and two bridges were washed away in the busy market town. Mohammed Tanko, 29, a civil servant, pointed to a house he grew up in, telling reporters Friday: 'We lost at least 15 from this house. The property (is) gone. We lost everything.' Floods in Nigeria are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels. 'This tragic incident serves as a timely reminder of the dangers associated with building on waterways and the critical importance of keeping drainage channels and river paths clear,' the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said in a statement. Complicating the search for missing persons was the presence of a large group of travellers staying overnight in a Mokwa mosque when the rains hit, Adamu said. The building collapsed and it was still unknown where the people had been travelling from. President Bola Tinubu said the disaster response was being aided by security forces. Warning sounded The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday. In 2024, floods killed 321 people across 34 of Nigeria's 36 states, according to NEMA. Describing how she escaped the raging waters in Mokwa, Sabuwar Bala, a 50-year-old yam vendor, told reporters: 'I was only wearing my underwear, someone loaned me all I'm wearing now. I couldn't even save my flip-flops.' 'I can't locate where my home stood because of the destruction,' she said. — AFP
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
As toll rises, Nigeria flood victims recall worst disaster in memory
Adamu Yusuf was preparing to go to the Mokwa market Thursday morning when he heard his neighbour shouting: floodwaters were sweeping through the Nigerian town. Water had been building up for days behind an abandoned railway track that runs along the edge of the town, residents told AFP. It was not the first time heavy rains had accumulated behind the mud mounds on which the tracks stand, but it would soon be the deadliest. The floods that hit Mokwa, in north-central Nigeria's Niger state, are the worst in living memory, with the death toll topping 150 and continuing to climb and hundreds feared missing. Climate change has made weather swings in Nigeria more extreme, but it became clear that other human factors were also at play. Floodwaters would usually pass through a couple of culverts in the mounds and run into a narrow channel. But this time, debris had blocked the culverts, forcing water to build up behind the clay walls that eventually gave way. The resulting flood swept through the community, flattening it within hours on Thursday morning. Volunteers and disaster response teams have been fanning out in the days since, sometimes recovering bodies nearly 10 kilometres (six miles) away after people were swept into the powerful Niger River. Yusuf struggled to save his family, before being knocked unconscious by the floodwaters. When he woke up in hospital, he was told his wife, son, mother and other relatives -- nine in total -- had been swept away. Only one body has been recovered. "I don't know who rescued me," Yusuf, 36, told AFP. He stood where his house used to be as residents, including children as young as 10, dug through debris in search of bodies. A powerful stench filled the air, which residents said came from decaying corpses trapped under the rubble. Carcasses and puddles littered the area, and a huge gully now sits in the centre of the community. The only excavator working nearby was focused on piling boulders to reinforce a small bridge on the edge of the community that had been destroyed by the flood. "I have never seen anything like this in my 42 years of existence," said Adamu Usama, a civil engineer who said he lost 10 in-laws to the flood. His house was barely spared. "We saw the water carrying people but we cannot save (them), because we don't know how to swim." - Left in limbo - Days before the disaster struck Mokwa, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday. Floods in Nigeria are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels. In 2024, floods killed 321 people across 34 of Nigeria's 36 states, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The Mokwa floods threaten to top that. The Niger state emergency management agency said 153 people were killed in Mokwa as of Sunday, all of whom have been buried. But residents and traditional rulers insist the number is far higher. "Anybody that tells you this is the number of people that died is just guessing," one resident, Saliu Adamu, 45, told AFP. Although President Bola Tinubu said the disaster response was being aided by security forces, only a handful of soldiers and police were at the scene Sunday afternoon, mostly to ease traffic that had built up because of the damaged bridge. The state governor, Mohammed Umar Bago, is in Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage. Residents said his deputy, Yakubu Garba, had visited. Many people who lost their loved ones and property are still waiting for assistance. tba/nro/rlp
Washington Post
13 hours ago
- Climate
- Washington Post
Death toll reaches at least 200 in Nigerian town submerged in floods as rescue efforts halted
ABUJA, Nigeria — The death toll from devastating flooding in a market town in Nigeria's north-central state of Niger rose to at least 200 on Sunday, a local official said. Torrents of predawn rainfall early Thursday unleashed the devastating flood on Mokwa, nearly 380 kilometers (236 miles) west of Abuja and a major trading and transportation hub where northern Nigerian farmers sell beans, onions and other food to traders from the south.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Death toll at 200 in Nigeria flood-submerged town
The death toll from devastating flooding in a market town in Nigeria's north-central state of Niger has risen to at least 200, a local official said. Torrents of pre-dawn rainfall early on Thursday unleashed the devastating flood on Mokwa, nearly 380km west of Abuja and a major trading and transportation hub where northern Nigerian farmers sell beans, onions and other food to traders from the south. The deputy chairman of Mokwa Local Government, Musa Kimboku, confirmed the updated fatality count to The Associated Press on Sunday. He said rescue operations have been called off, as authorities no longer believe there are any survivors. To prevent the outbreak of disease, officials are currently exhuming bodies buried beneath the rubble, Kimboku added. On Saturday, the spokesperson for the Niger State emergency service, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, said an additional 11 people were injured and more than 3000 people were displaced. At least 500 households across three communities were affected by the sudden and intense flood that built rapidly in about five hours, leaving roofs barely visible and surviving residents waist-deep in water, trying to salvage what they could and rescue others. Husseini added that two roads were washed away and two bridges collapsed. In a statement on Friday night, President Bola Tinubu expressed condolences and said he had directed the activation of an emergency response to support victims and "accelerate" recovery. Flooding is common during Nigeria's wet season. Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season. But this flood has been particularly deadly in Mokwa, a farming region near the banks of the River Niger. Mokwa community leader Aliki Musa said the villagers are not used to such flooding. The chairman of the Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, told local news website Premium Times that construction of flood-control works was long overdue.
