


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 Sunday, a local official said.
Torrents of predawn rainfall early Thursday unleashed the devastating flood on Mokwa, nearly 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 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 said.
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 flood.
— The Associated Press