Ivory Coast officials told AFP that the heavy rains and landslides that have been hitting Abidjan have resulted in the deaths of at least ten people.
According to reports from the military’s firefighting brigade GSPM, the count was only a provisional tally as of Friday.
According to Anicet Bah, GSPM captain and deputy head of operations, “We recorded 10 deaths, nine in Yopougon and one in Cocody-Angre,” which are two districts of Abidjan, the country’s largest city and economic hub.
According to him, the first landslide occurred in the Yopougon industrial zone at approximately three in the morning on Thursday. It resulted in four fatalities and one injury.
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According to him, a second landslide occurred in the same region, causing seven people to be injured and another four people, including a child, to lose their lives.
Another body was discovered in the landslide the following morning in the town of Attecoube-Mossikro, which is not too far away.
Cocody, which is located somewhat closer to the heart of the city, had “one person swept away by the waters,” and the body was later discovered by locals.
It was reported to the firefighters that another three victims had been swept away by the water, but Bah stated that the operation to find them had been terminated after a “in vain” search had been conducted.
Ivory Coast experiences heavy rainfall every year during the months of June and July; however, unsafe construction has led to more flood-prone areas, especially in poorer neighborhoods of the expanding West African metropolis, which is home to an estimated 5.6 million people.
During the middle of the month of June, a landslide in Yopougon claimed the lives of a married couple and their three children.
After a night of heavy rain, a landslide occurred in the populous district, which resulted in the deaths of six people. This tragedy occurred during the rainy season of the previous year as well.
Since the beginning of the year, the government has reported that 15 children have been killed as a result of weather-related incidents. The most recent of these deaths occurred in the month of December.
