04/26/2012 21:03 GMT

MORONI, April 26, 2012 (AFP) - The archipelago nation of Comoros has been battered by torrential rains for more than a week and 11,000 people have "lost everything", officials said Thursday.

Civil protection official Ismael Mouigni Daho said the situation on the islands was "dramatic".

"The number of villages that have fallen victim just keeps climbing," he said.

Daho said rescuers were hampered in their efforts to bring medical relief because of road blockages.

In the capital Moroni, about a dozen communities were without drinking water after a pumping station was flooded.

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