At least 44 people have been killed and thousands more made homeless after heavy floods caused the Niger River to overflow earlier this week, flooding parts of the capital Niamey and other areas, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday. Up to 200,000 people have been affected by the floods, Niger's government has said. It has declared a state of emergency and called for urgent food aid for 2,000 displaced people. Floods have also affected parts of Burkina Faso, damaging thousands of hectares of crop fields there and forcing many from their homes, the WFP was quoted as saying by DPA.
