Some 40 people are feared dead in northern Nigeria after a dam collapsed.
Hundreds of people in northern Nigeria have been made homeless after a dam burst in Zamfara state, the state's governor has said.
About 500 houses were swept away by the waters near Gusau, the capital of Zamfara state.
Governor Ahmed Sani Yarima told the BBC torrential rain had brought the water level behind the dam to critical level, forcing it to burst.
The state governor told the BBC that water behind the dam had reached a critical level following torrential rain, forcing the structure to burst.
Mr Yarima said about 1,000 families had lost their homes but said that contrary to media reports no-one was illed.
Staff at the dam had been unable to open the floodgates, Nigerian media reports. State authorities have put up temporary shelters to house survivors.
Earlier reports in local media said at least 40 people had died.
Governor Ahmed Yarima called on the Nigerian federal government to provide aid.
The governor described how a wall of water swept through villages below the dam, close to the state capital Gusau.
He told the BBC that a tidal surge engulfed the area.
"The body of water was just like the pictures of tsunami that we've seen," he said. "It had enough force and speed to sweep people off their feet and into the river."
"The body of water was just like the pictures of tsunami that we have seen," he said.
Despite the force of the water, "all those missing were later found safe and alive," Mr Yarima told Reuters news agency.
"It had enough force and speed to sweep people off their feet and into the river."
People who have lost their homes are being sheltered in a local secondary school.
The dam was the main source of water supply to Gusau.
The reservoir behind the dam provided the main supply of drinking water to Gusau.
Mr Yerima said emergency repairs to the dam would take about two weeks but water supplies to Gusau should not be affected.
He has called on the Nigerian federal government to provide aid.
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