Eight More Die in Sudan Floods, Toll Now 122

The death toll from the worst floods in Sudan in living memory rose to 122 with the death of eight people in heavy rains which swept away houses and brought down electric cables, an official said on Tuesday.

Hamadallah Adam Ali, head of the government's civil defence authority, told Reuters the eight people died on Monmday in flash floods in the town of Kosti in central Sudan, which he said had been one of the hardest hit regions.

"There have been rains of about 125 mm (five inches)," he said. "The whole city is full of water and this water has destroyed more than 20,000 houses in Kosti and neighbouring villages... Now 122 people have died because of the floods."

In Kosti one person was electrocuted when electric cables landed in the flood water and the others died when a house collapsed on them during heavy rainfall, he added.

The U.N. humanitarian aid agency OCHA says the flooding in Africa's largest country has made at least 200,000 people homeless and has destroyed roads, schools and access to clean drinking water.

Sudan's economy and infrastructure have been shaken by civil conflict. Government and rebels have been fighting for control of the Darfur region for four years. In south Sudan, a two-year-old deal that ended a 20-year-old north-south conflict has been looking increasingly fragile.

The government says the floods have damaged or destroyed over 50,000 hectares (125,000 acres) of agricultural land and killed some 36,000 head of livestock across Sudan, where most people depend on farming and livestock for their livelihoods.

Last week the United Nations appealed for more than $20 million to provide clean water, food and shelter to more than three million people affected by the floods.

"The UN says it will send money, but it will come too late," Ali said. "We need it now."

OCHA said last week that at least 3.5 million people in Sudan may be at risk of epidemics spread by flood damage, such as malaria and acute watery diarrhoea (AWD), which has killed 57 people in eastern Sudan.

Last month the World Health Organization (WHO) said the AWD outbreak in eastern Sudan was cholera, a waterborne disease that can lead to death within hours if not treated.

Khartoum has denied the occurence of the cholera, a disease which analysts say can have social and political ramifications, making governments reluctant to use the word.