The central-eastern part of the country is suffering from the intense rainy season. Since June, it has been hitting this immense desert country affected by climate change.
The Zinder mosque, one of the oldest in Niger, built nearly 200 years ago, was destroyed on Tuesday after torrential rains in this country where more than 95% of the population is Muslim, residents said. “It is the oldest mosque in Zinder and it was completely wiped off the map yesterday (Tuesday) after torrential rain.”said Ali Mamane, a resident of Zinder.
Located in the center-east, the Zinder region is one of the most affected by the intense rainy season that has been hitting Niger, a vast desert country affected by climate change, since June. Images of the gradual fall of the building, until its total collapse in the Birni district of Zinder, the city that houses the region’s sultanate, were widely shared on social networks.
Built in the mid-19th centurye century, this mosque was highly symbolic for the inhabitants of Zinder, the country’s second city. “For hundreds of years, worshipers have come from far and wide to pray there every Friday and on Muslim holidays.”says El Hadj Mansour Kakalé, a local religious leader.
Built of mud – a mixture of earth and straw – it is on the list of the most visited mosques in the country after that of Agadez (north) built in 1515 and classified as a UNESCO world heritage site, according to the Nigerien Ministry of Tourism which recently restored it. “We were told about cracks in some places, but we couldn’t do anything about it with the rain.”a local ministry official explained on television on Tuesday evening.
In less than three months, throughout Niger, floods linked to the rainy season have caused 217 deaths, 200 injuries and more than 350,000 homeless people, according to a report published on August 22 by the government, the latest available.
In the city of Maradi, capital of the region of the same name and neighboring Zinder, fifteen people died in one day last week following torrential rains.
During the rainy season, which lasts from June to September, Niger has been facing recurring floods for several years, including in the very desert areas of the north where significant damage was recorded again this year. A paradox in this very dry state where poor harvests are usually due to drought.
