The death toll from devastating flooding in Nigeria has risen to at least 151, the local emergency service says, amid efforts to find more victims.
The sharp toll rise came as bodies were recovered nearly 10 kilometres from the north-central market town of Mokwa, located in the state of Niger, the epicentre of the flash flooding.
Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said the toll could rise further, with bodies being swept down the Niger River.
Mokwa was hit by torrential rains on Wednesday night into Thursday, with the flooding displacing more than 3,000 people, Mr Husseini said.
There were 121 injured in hospital, said Gideon Adamu, head of the Red Cross in Niger state, and more than 100 people were missing.
Flash flooding
The market town, located west of Abuja, is a major trading and transportation hub where northern Nigerian farmers sell beans, onions and other food to traders from the south.
At least 500 households across three communities were affected by the sudden 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.
Mr Husseini added that two roads were washed away and two bridges collapsed.
Nigeria's rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year.
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.
Heavy rains and poor infrastructure lead to flooding that wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the West African country.
'We can't give up'
Residents in the town are still searching for relatives, with some families missing a dozen people.
"We can't give up the search as long as there are families crying out," the Red Cross's Gideon Adamu said.
"If there were some bodies that were carried away by the flooding, we'll find them in the farmland on the Jebba side."
Mr Husseini said his team would need excavators to reach bodies feared buried under the rubble.
President Bola Tinubu said he had activated an emergency response to support victims and "accelerate" recovery.
"Relief materials and temporary shelter assistance are being deployed without delay," the president said, promising "no Nigerian affected will be left behind or unheard of".
In 2024, floods killed 321 people across 34 of Nigeria's 36 states, according to NEMA.
ABC/wires
