Gusau — At least one person was confirmed dead and many others injured, following a windstorm that was accompanied by a heavy rainfall  in Maradun and Talata Mafara towns of Zamfara State.

The disaster, which occur-red at about 5 p.m., Wednes-day, left more than 100 houses, including the palace of the Emir of Maradun and students’ hostels at the Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Talata-Mafara, destroyed.

Reports say  that Govern-ment Secondary School, Maradun and a number of shops in the area also had their roofs blown off by the windstorm, which lasted for about 50 minutes.

Some of the victims include a pregnant woman and children, who are now receiving medical attention at the General Hospitals at Maradun and Talata-Mafara.

The Acting Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ahmad, who visited the affected areas,  sympathi-sed with the victims, and prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased.

He said government has set up a committee to assess the damage caused by the wind-storm, with a view to assisting the victims.

He advised people to stop  putting up structures on water-ways, warning that the  gover-nment would soon commence demolition of illegal structures.