Floods have killed more than 100 people and destroyed homes in eastern Ethiopia after heavy rains caused a river to overflow, police said yesterday. ?Floods from the overflowing Dechatu river hit Dire Dawa town in the middle of Saturday night while residents were sleeping,? police inspector Benyam Fikru told Reuters. ?The bodies of 101 residents washed away by the floods have been recovered by a joint police and army rescue operation.?

He added that rescuers who launched their operation early yesterday, were looking for more bodies. ?Bulldozers are digging into the sandy banks of the Dechatu river in search of more bodies,? he said. Benyam said some 220 residential houses had been destroyed by the floods. Dire Dawa, located in Ethiopia?s lowlands, is some 525 kms (326.2 miles) east of the capital Addis Ababa