The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that the collapse on Tuesday of the Alau dam in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, caused severe flooding in the area and affected thousands of homes in a region of about 800,000 people.

Manzo Ezekiel, a spokesman for Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told reporters that 70 percent of the city is underwater.

Experts say the landslide was caused by recent heavy rains.

In Nigeria, severe flooding has affected 29 of the country’s 36 states, affecting more than 600,000 people, the UN reported.

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