Floods delay new school year in Niger

NIAMEY, Niger: Niger´s government says heavy rains and flooding have forced the start of the new school year to be delayed by nearly a month.

Torrential downpours have lashed the vast West African nation since June, killing scores and affecting hundreds of thousands of people.

The military-led Sahelian country is among areas of central and west Africa suffering heavy flooding amid an unusually intense rainy season.

The government announced it had pushed the first day of school -- planned for October 2 -- back to October 28 for the country´s nearly 4.5 million pupils.

“Several schools have been impacted, others (are) occupied by those affected,” a government round-up read out on state television said late Thursday.