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Borno Flood: Emergency responders stranded amid rescue operations (pictures, videos)

September 10, 2024

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Borno Flood: Emergency responders stranded amid rescue operations (pictures, videos)

Barkindo Mohammed, Director General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), has reported that agency officials assigned to rescue flood victims in Maiduguri have become trapped.

Water from the Alau Dam, which collapsed early Tuesday morning, continues to inundate various wards in the town, leaving thousands of displaced residents searching for safer locations.

“In a chat with newsmen, Mohammed said the agency had since commenced rescue operations and the distribution of sandbags.

He said: ‘We have recently conducted a rescue operation and are currently distributing sandbags in Gozari.’

“As I am speaking to you now, I am trapped; we came to rescue some people and are now trapped with my staff.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of people are in the streets with nowhere to go, and some can be seen lying or sitting under tree shades with their families.

Musa Abbas, who is with a family of two women and six children, said he had nowhere to go as his brothers reside in the Bulumkutu area, which requires crossing a bridge.

Abbas said: “The bridge is now submerged; I can’t cross, and my brothers can only come for me. We will sleep here and continue to pray that the rain won’t come.”

See pictures below: