Seasonal floods kill 50 people in Sudan

Floods triggered by seasonal torrential rains in Sudan have killed more than 50 people and inundated over 8,170 homes since the rainy season started, a senior police official said Saturday.

Nineteen fatalities have been recorded in North Kordofan province, followed by Nile River province, which reported seven deaths, said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Jalil Abdul-Rahim, spokesman for Sudan's National Council for Civil Defense. The western Darfur region, which has five provinces, reported 16 deaths, he added.

He did not say when the first causality occurred. Sudan's rainy season usually starts in June and lasts until September, with floods peaking in August and September.

Abdul-Rahim said at least 25 people were also injured so far this year, according to the country's state-run SUNA news agency.

The flooding and heavy rainfall inundated 16 government facilities and around 40 stores, and damaged at least 540 feddans (acres) of agricultural land across the country, Abdul-Rahim said.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said an estimated 38,000 people have been affected by heavy rainfall across the East African country since May.