Heavy rains kill 19 in Niger

NIAMEY: Heavy rains that have struck Niger since June have claimed 19 lives and inflicted economic harm on tens of thousands more, the government said on Friday, while the impoverished Sahel state faces a “major threat” of invasion by locusts. Of the 19 believed killed by the rains, 10 died by drowning and nine when homes collapsed, Niger’s interior ministry said in a statement. Disaster management offices tallied some 6,215 households-or 53,000 people-that have suffered financial damage from the rainfall, the ministry said. A previous official count last month put the number of dead at nine and the number of people economically impacted at 20,000. Niger’s southwestern regions of Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi and Dosso have been worst affected.