377 dead in west and central African floods: UN

DAKAR: The United Nations said Tuesday that 377 people had died in flooding in central and west Africa, with nearly 1.5 million people affected since the start of the rainy season in June.

"2010 has seen the largest number of people affected and dying from flooding", the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a news bulletin received by media in Dakar.

The highest toll was in Nigeria with 118, followed by Ghana (52), Sudan (50), Benin (43), Chad (24), Mauritania (21), Burkina Faso (16), Cameroon (13), Gambia (12), with other countries reporting less than 10 dead.

Most people were affected in Benin (360,000), followed by Nigeria (300,000), Niger (226,611), Chad (150,000), Burkina Faso (105,481), Sudan (74,970) and Mauritania (50,815).

Other countries had less than 50,000 people suffering from the floods.

"These floods worsened the situation in Niger and Chad, which are already facing a severe food crisis", OCHA said.