Devastating floods in northern Nigeria have caused walls to collapse at a prison in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, allowing 281 inmates to escape, prison authorities said.

Seven of the escaped detainees were recaptured in security operations, Umar Abubakar, a spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service, said. 

Operations to capture the remaining escapees are ongoing, he said.

Maiduguri, the regional capital of Borno State, has recently experienced one of the worst floods in 30 years.

Thousands of homes were covered in water after the Alaou Dam broke on the Ngada River, 20 kilometers south of Maiduguri. At least 30 people were killed and 400,000 displaced by the floods.

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