Death toll reaches at least 200 in Nigerian town submerged in floods as rescue efforts halted

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — 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.

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 3,000 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.