Six dead in ICoast landslide after heavy rain

Heavy rainfall is typical in Ivory Coast from May through to late July and landslides and flooding are common with dozens of fatalities annually.

"We learned mid-morning of the initial damage caused by last night's rain in Abidjan," national cohesion minster Myss Belmonde Dogo wrote on her Facebook page.

She reported a landslide affecting three properties in Mossikro, part of the capital's Attecoube district.

"The provisional report shows six people dead and seven other victims evacuated to Yopougon University Hospital," in a neighbouring town, Dogo wrote.

"We were lying down when the rain started to come. The earth above fell on the house," Audrey Toh Lou, a survivor, told AFP.

In June 2023, also in Mossikro, five people were killed in a landslide after heavy rainfall.

That year saw some 30 fatalities in incidents linked to heavy rains.

Last year, the rains caused a total of more than 20 deaths.

Precarious construction in poor and flood-prone areas is common in Abidjan, population some six million.

The government launched a vast clear-up policy last year, destroying many neighbourhoods full of informal housing.

The policy drew criticism from residents, the opposition and NGOs including Amnesty International, with few of those evicted reportedly being resettled.