The body of a medical officer is still missing hours after a heavy downpour in Accra on Monday night.
An eyewitness told XYZ News the deceased is Adwoa Esson and a medical Doctor at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
One of the eyewitnesses who narrated the incident said the medical practitioner’s Hyundai Sonata got submerged when she attempted to drive through a flooded area on the ‘Naa Pra’ lagoon at Rasta, a suburb of Teshie in the Ledzokuku Krowor Municipality.
Reports say the flood current was too heavy that it toppled the car over the broken bridge into the lagoon where she was carried away.
‘I think she had closed from work at about 11pm. When she got here, the whole place was flooded. The bridge broke and the car started moving in to it. People gave her a metal bar to help her out but it was not working. I kept shouting but we couldn’t get any help,” one of the residents said, pointing to the abandoned dilapidated bridge that needs to be constructed.
Another added that she [Adwoa] had initially broken out of the floating car but was unable to make it out, unlike two other passengers who had earlier been pulled out by some residents who met the incident as it unfolded.
The mangled Hyundai Sonata
At about the 6am Tuesday when XYZ News’ Kenneth Awotwe Darko visited the scene, the mangled salon car filled with debris was discovered by the residents about 500 metres away from the main ‘Bush’ road after it was forced under an adjoining bridge towards the Kpeshie Lagoon.
Officials from the National Disaster Management Organization who arrived at the scene around 7:30am to assess the situation were seen interacting with the visibly distraught family who had rushed to the scene on hearing the news of the unfortunate incident.
Residents fear dilapidated bridges
An opinion leader in the area, popularly known as ‘Alhaji States’ lamented the poor nature of the bridges in the area which he said are a major factor contributing to similar disasters in the area.
“we need the bridge to be expanded and raised. We have complained so may times to the authorities. We even complained to Okoe [MP for Ledzorkuku Constituency Bernard Okoe Boye], he has also promised us that he will come. We’ve complained to Department of Urban Roads but they say they have given it to a contractor. The contractor also says she hasn’t been paid. So she cannot work”, he explained.
Accra recorded at least 40 millimetres of rains Monday night, lasting between 7:30PM and midnight resulting in terrible floods that have displaced many residents and destroyed properties in some parts of Accra.
The areas that got flooded include Dome,Taifa, Mallam, Adabraka, Odawna and some parts of Tema.
Reports from Cape Coast also indicate that heavy rains on Monday night flooded some areas in the Central regional Capital and its adjoining towns.
