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Ethiopia flash floods kill 19 children


    ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Nineteen of 25 people killed by flash floods in Ethiopia's eastern town of Jijiga this week were children, a regional official said on Saturday.

    The region is prone to droughts and flooding. Last year,scores of people died after weeks of heavy rain.

    "The force of the flash flood that hit Jijiga town onThursday night swept away 200 houses, killing 25 people of whom19 were children," Nur Abdi Mohammed, spokesman for the Somaliregion, told Reuters.

    Forty-five people were receiving hospital treatment, hesaid.

    Nur said the flood occurred without warning after heavyrain around Chinaksen, 50 km (31 miles) north of Jijiga, andthere had been no rain in the town itself on the day.

    About 250 people whose houses were destroyed were receivingemergency assistance, he said.

    (Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse, editing by Wangui Kanina)

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