8-year-old drowns in Koforidua floods trying to save lunchbox

One person, an eight-year-old boy, has been confirmed dead in the late afternoon downpour in Koforidua that left parts of the town flooded Monday.

Jude Ampofo Gyamfi and two others had alighted from their school bus at their junction and were heading home at the time that it was raining when his lunchbox fell into the flooding water, and in an attempt to save it, he was swept away.

According to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Jude’s elder brother who was among the two other kids, tried to rescue him but was unsuccessful.

His brother was said to have informed their mother who quickly put together a search team to the area.

Jude, a class three pupil, was found unconscious in a nearby Nsukwao stream and was rushed to the SDA Hospital but died in the evening, NADMO officials confirmed to our correspondent Yvonne Neequaye on Tuesday.

Schools, households and shops at the central business district were the hardest hit by the floods caused by the two-hour downpour that started at about 3:30pm, and caused all business activities to come to a halt.

Other affected areas were Nsukwao, Zongo, Highways and their environs which are known as flood prone arrears in the Koforidua township.

Source: 3news.com