Flash floods kill 24 in Mali's capital Bamako

Twenty-four people were killed in Mali's riverside capital Bamako on Wednesday when torrential rains provoked flash floods that washed away homes in several neighbourhoods, a government minister said.

"The heavy rains led to flooding ... These floods caused 24 deaths," Tiefing Konate, the country's minister of internal security and civilian protection, said in a statement distributed to local media.

Bankoni, Taliko, Lafiabougou, Djicoroni Woyowayanko, Lafiabougou Bougouba and Bougoudani neighbourhoods were all hit by floods during rain storms that lasted most of the day. Nineteen people died in Taliko alone, the statement said.

Parts of Bamako, a city of around 2 million people on the Niger River, flood regularly during the West African nation's June-to-October rainy season. Deaths are a relatively common occurrence.

Some of the worst damage during Wednesday's flooding occurred in areas where houses had been built on land reserved for drainage, a Reuters witness said

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