Homes are demolished in Ivory Coast’s main city over alleged health concerns. Thousands are homeless WHIO TV 7 and WHIO Radio [Video]

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — (AP) — Dame Touré rushed to quickly gather what she could as bulldozers rolled into her neighborhood in Ivory Coast’s fast-growing economic hub of Abidjan. Her three children joined her, stuffing plastic bags with clothes and whatever other items they could grab, before their home was reduced to rubble as armed security forces looked on.

The Touré home was among hundreds crushed in a February wave of demolitions targeting Abidjan’s underdeveloped areas.

The government says it’s because of public health concerns as the poor areas — built along a lagoon in this port city of 6.3 million on West Africa’s southern coast — suffer deadly floods during the rainy season. More than 300 people have been killed since 2005 and officials say the deluges become breeding grounds for water-borne and other diseases.

“My children and I now sleep under the sun,” said Touré, 50. “We don’t know where to go.”

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