A dam collapsed Tuesday in northeastern Nigeria, causing severe flooding that prompted evacuations and released deadly reptiles from a zoo into nearby communities, according to local officials and a zoo manager.
The Alau dam, located in Borno state, collapsed due to unusually high rains, causing some of the worst flooding the state has seen in 30 years. Many residents were forced to flee their homes as the dam reached full capacity, the state government said.
About 15% of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, was submerged, police spokesperson Nahum Daso told The Associated Press. No death toll from the flooding has been reported yet.
At the Borno State Museum Park, the flooding killed approximately 80% of the animals, while an unknown number of reptiles escaped, said zoo general manager Ali Abatcha Don Best.
The dam collapse has exacerbated an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Borno, which has been severely affected by Boko Haram insurgents over the past decade. The insurgency has killed more than 35,000 people and displaced 2.6 million others in northeastern Nigeria.
Earlier this year, at least 18 people were killed by suicide bombers in a coordinated attack on a wedding, a funeral, and a hospital in Borno. Boko Haram, with a faction allied to the Islamic State group, aims to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria.
