Three more corpses have been recovered from the scenes of the rainstorm disaster that wrecked havoc in Rafin Sanyi in Suleja Local Government Area of Niger, bringing the death toll to 10.
The three bodies had already been deposited at the Sabon Wuse General Hospital, according to chairman of the local government, Alhaji Abdullahi Maje, who disclosed this on Saturday.
Maje, who recalled that seven bodies had earlier been recovered following the torrential rains which began at about 9.30 pm on Friday night in the area, said the search operation was being conducted by a combined team of the police, the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel, among others.
“We had already deposited seven corpses at the Sabon Wuse General Hospital, and were searching for several others that are missing. Several houses have also partially collapsed in the area, while trees fell on roads and vehicles in different parts of Rafin Sanyi. The roofs of several buildings, supermarkets, Kiosks and public buildings were also blown off by the rainstorm.
 The search operation is ongoing and I appeal to members of the public, especially those residing around Unguwar Gwari, Rafin Sanyi, to support and cooperate with the search team for the success of the exercise”.
The chairman said the local council had taken measures to relocate all houses built on the waterways in the area, and warned that the local government would not tolerate erection of structures on water ways by residents as the practice was contributing to flooding.
A resident of Rafin Sanyi, Alhaji Bashiru Musa, said a strong wind that accompanied the rains destroyed several houses, billboards, electric poles and blew off the roofs of many houses.
He added that some electric poles also collapsed, which has resulted in power outage in the entire vicinity.
