The Ministry of the Interior says that at least six people drowned this weekend, when torrential rains flooded the Senegalese capital of Dakar, as well as major cities in the interior.

Ministry spokesman Adjutant Mbaye Sady Diop said that the city's drainage system failed under the onslaught of water. The floodwaters inundated most of the capital's neighborhoods, including National Highway No. 1, which connects the capital to the rest of the country.

News portal Seneweb.com showed pictures of flooded mosques, and of women wading in hip-high water. On Monday, there was a bank of sand on many of the roads in Dakar, the residue of the receding liquid.

Senegal's seaside capital has faced flooding nearly every year. Especially hard-hit are its low-lying suburbs which were built on wetlands.