Floods, landslides kill 24 in Cote d’Ivoire’s main city
Floods and landslides killed at least 24 people in 10 days in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire’s largest city, authorities said Monday after an unusually intense start to the rainy season.
Rain around four times heavier than normal fell on the West African nation’s economic capital over several days, causing spectacular rises in water levels and landslides.
The National Office for Civil Protection (ONPC) reported 24 deaths after “torrential rains from Thursday 13 to Saturday 22 June”, warning of the risk of collapsed buildings.
Two more people were missing after being “swept away by the waters”, the ONPC statement added.
It updated a toll given by the fire service on June 15, which said that eight people had died after the exceptionally heavy downpours.
About a quarter of the precipitation expected over the entire three-month rainy season from May to July fell in 24 hours, the national meteorological service Sodexam said.
