Standup9ja: Death toll in Niger flood rises to 16

Standup9ja: Death toll in Niger flood rises to 16

Death tolls in the weekend flood in Suleja and Tafa local government areas of Niger State has risen to 16, Standup9ja learnt on Monday.

Eleven people initially lost their lives in the flood occasioned by heavy down pour that started on Saturday until Sunday morning in the affected local government areas.

However a witness, Abdulrahaman Suleiman told our correspondent yesterday in Suleja that 13 people were confirmed dead as at yesterday morning, while four others who were in coma were still receiving medical attention at the General Hospital Suleja.

The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) Malam Ibrahim Inga however put the death toll at Suleja at the nine instead of the initial 10, while he puts that of Tafa at three from the initial one

He said residents confirmed to the Agency that the body of a middle age woman who died when parts of her building collapsed on her during the heavy down pour was recovered yesterday morning, while two people also died in the flood along Western Avenue of Zuma rock in Tafa.

The director general confirmed that the Agency’s search and rescue team rescued one person in Tafa.

He also said although Agency officials along with the personnel of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were still taking inventory of the houses lost to the flood, 90 households were affected in Suleja, adding that more could be uncovered when the water level reduces. He also disclosed that over 35 houses were affected in Tafa.

He said that more than 500 persons could have been displaced, even though Agency officials were still taking roll calls of tenants, while the inventory of landlords has been completed.

The director general said vehicles and personnel effects were washed away by the rampaging flood in the two Councils. 

He said the Agency would be putting up temporary camps for those displaced immediately after the inventory was concluded, while relief materials were being moblised to cushion the effect of the disaster.