Niamey - Floods in
Niger have killed 81 people since July, the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs
announced on Thursday, adding cholera outbreaks have killed a further 81
people.
"The last
update of the toll of the floods dating from September 11 indicates that 527
471 people have been affected by the bad weather and 81 people have lost their
lives," Ocha said in a statement in Niamey.
The previous toll
established by the authorities was 68 dead and 485 000 people affected in the
Sahel nation in west Africa.
Thousands of
homes, schools, health centres and mosques have been destroyed, along with
large quantities of food supplies, according to the authorities.
The UN office also
reported outbreaks of cholera, which have claimed 81 lives since the start of
the year, mainly in the west of the country.
Cholera is
spreading fast in at least four places, making 3 854 people sick and notably
affecting the Tillaberi regions lying by the Niger river and close to the
border with Mali, Ocha said.
In the provinces
and in the capital, where the Niger river level is rising significantly, most
of the people stricken by flooding are being housed mainly in schools, as well
as mosques and public buildings.
While preparing to
move flood victims to more appropriate accommodation, the government has
postponed the start of the school year from October 17 until October 27.
In neighbouring
Burkina Faso, heavy rains have killed 18 people and made 21 000 homeless since
June. Senegal and Nigeria have also been affected by the bad weather.
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