Nine-year-old drowns in Tuesday’s floods
The body of a nine-year-old girl swept away by the flood following last Wednesday’s downpour at Nungua in Accra was found after 19 hours of searching for her.
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The victim, identified as Happy Oklah, a class two pupil of SDA Primary School at Nungua, was said to have been on an errand to buy food for herself and her 10- year-old brother.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the father of the victim, Mr Robert Togloh, said the girl and her brother, whose name has been withheld, were together when the incident occurred at about 11 a.m. last Wednesday.
Cry for help
Mr Togloh said he was at work when he received a phone call from his wife that the victim, affectionately called Happy, had been swept away by the floods.
He said the two siblings were sent by their mother to buy cooked beans at a point near their house on the Pawpaw Street, Nungua.
“But five minutes after they had left, it started raining. When they were returning home they found it difficult to find their way home because of the floods which had covered the streets and the drains.”
According to Mr Togloh, the brother, who is older, jumped the drain and fell into it but managed to get to safety.
“The boy then told Happy, who was behind the drains to move a bit farther from where he had jumped.”
“But when Happy moved her foot, she fell into the drain and she could not come out as her brother had done.”
After crying for help, a passer-by on a motor bicycle came to their aid and tried to help Happy out of the water.
But the motor rider, after several attempts, failed to save the drowning girl.
Shortly, the speed of the water increased and the Good Samaritan and the brother of the victim saw her being swept away.
With the help of the Good Samaritan, the boy went home and informed his mother about the incident.
Search party
A search party immediately went to the scene to look for Happy but to no avail.
A report of the missing girl was filed with the Nungua Police which joined in the search.
At about 6:30a.m. the body of a young girl, in a check attire, suspected to be her school uniform, was found under some bushes at Brigade in Nungua.
The Nungua Police were informed and the body was retrieved.
The father of the victim identified the body as that of his missing daughter.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the Nungua Police, the District Commander, Superintendent of Police, Mrs Patient Akwetey, said the body had since been deposited at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
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