18 killed in Cote d'Ivoire flooding, 136 rescued

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Flooding caused by overnight torrential rain killed 18 people in Cote d'Ivoire's economic capital Abidjan, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

The downpour which started at 11:00 p.m. on Monday continued until 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, causing flash floods up to 2.5 meters (more than eight feet) deep.

Rescue teams saved 136 people, two people were hospitalized, and searches were under way for other casualties. Emergency medical centers had been set up across the seaside city.

People look at a car in a sewer after a flood in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, June 19, 2018. /VCG Photo

A city of five million, Abidjan suffers from infrastructure problems and many homes are built in flood-prone areas.

The affected areas ranged from the posh Cocody neighborhood, where many embassies and the presidential palace are located, to the teeming working-class Yopougon neighborhood.

"Many residents are perched on the roofs of their homes," Fiacre Kili, the head of the civil protection agency said.

In Cocody and neighboring Riviera, several homes were flooded and boundary walls toppled, with many cars washed away from driveways.

"I have never seen anything like this in my life," said a resident, whose car was swept 600 meters from the house.

'We lost everything'

A woman sits between her belongings and the debris after flood in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, June 19, 2018. /VCG Photo

"I was sleeping upstairs. My friend who was next to me woke me up saying 'Get up, there's water.' I looked out of the window and saw cars and furniture being swept away on the streets," said Ismael Oulata, a fitness coach.

"Then the water started coming up the stairs."

Machines in the gym downstairs were out of commission and an adjoining hairdressing salon was smeared with mud.

"We lost everything," said a pizzeria owner called Sabine, who declined to give her surname.

"When we came this morning we found all the freezers toppled and all the products were spoiled. Our five delivery scooters were damaged."

Cote d'Ivoire's rainy season extends from April to October and rainfall is more abundant on the coast.

Every year, flash flooding claims several lives.

Torrential rains on May 29, 1996 killed 28 people in Abidjan.

(Cover Photo: A pedestrian walks past the wreckage of a vehicle on a street in Abidjan on June 19, 2018, after floodwaters receded following an overnight downpour in the city. /VCG Photo)

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Source(s): AFP