Lagos, May 31: Flash floods that ripped through parts of central Nigeria have killed at least 150 people and injured dozens of others, emergency services officials said on Saturday, with the toll expected to rise further.
Teams of rescuers continued to search for missing residents after torrential rains late on Wednesday through early Thursday washed away and submerged dozens of homes in and around the town of Mokwa, located on the banks of Niger River, in the Niger state.
Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, warned on Saturday that the toll could still rise far as the cloudburst yet continuing.
The figures shared with news Husseini noted a sharp rise from the previous toll of 115 dead, while also showing more than 3,000 people were displaced, 265 houses "completely destroyed" and two bridges washed away.
He said many were still missing, citing a family of 12 where only four members have been accounted for.
"Some bodies were recovered from the debris of collapsed homes," he said, adding that his teams would need excavators to retrieve corpses from under the rubble.
At least 78 people have been hospitalised with injuries, the Red Cross chief for the state, Gideon Adamu, told pressers.
According to the reports, thousands of people have been displaced and more than 50 children in an Islamic school were reported missing.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) described it as one of the biggest flood of the century.
The police and military have been roped in to help with the disaster response.
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.
Local media reported that more than 5,000 people have been left homeless, while the Red Cross said two major bridges in the town were torn apart.
