6-year-old girl dead, another missing after heavy rains at Kintampo

A six-year-old girl has died after being swept by flood waters following torrential rainfall at Kintampo in the Bono-East Region.

She was travelling in a tricycle which got carried away after heavy rains in the area.

A four-year-old girl is also missing.

A search team found the body of the deceased on Monday morning and is still in search of the missing girl.

Uncle of the deceased child, Mr Amponsah, said eyewitnesses narrated that his niece held on to a tree branch but lost grip of it after it broke.

He added that until Monday morning, July 17, her body was found and has since been deposited at the morgue.

Meanwhile, the grieving grandmother of the missing four-year-old said they had to perform some rituals to aid rescuers.

She expressed the hope that her grandchild would be found after the ceremony.

Personnel from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) are involved in the search.

The Director of NADMO for the area, A. B. Mohammed, said they were working around the clock to ensure the girl was found.

He said the search had been difficult because the area was busy, and the river bank was still overflowing. Therefore, they had to exercise some restraint.

“Until the girl is found, we will not relax. There are areas where the [river] has deposited a lot of sand, so it’s even possible that the sand will cover the body of the small girl, you know, the girl is only four years old,” he said.

He advised that all residents living close to the river bank tread cautiously to avoid a repetition of such occurrences.

The latest incident brings to six the number of deaths caused by floods in the first quarter of 2023.