Flood Takes Delta Student into Canal, Body Recovered Two Days Later

A university student was swept away by floodwater in Asaba, Delta State, while riding with her father. Her body was found two days later.

The incident happened on Monday at Okotimi Layout, behind the Asaba Specialist Hospital, after heavy rain.

The girl was reportedly in a Toyota Corolla with her father when floodwater pushed the car into a drainage channel.

A source said the man was taking his daughter to her industrial training when the flood hit. “He was driving to a place where the daughter was doing her industrial attachment. As he was driving, the road was flooded, and the water was pushing the vehicle into the drain,” the source said.

The girl, sitting in the front seat, raised her hand and called for help before the flood took her away.

Her father was rescued and taken to a hospital for treatment.

The Delta State Emergency Management Agency, under the Ministry of Bureau for Special Duties, confirmed the incident.

Ejiro Terry Etacherure, the Commissioner for the Bureau of Special Duties, said SEMA began searching for the girl on Monday and engaged divers to help.

He noted that the search continued until Wednesday. Boat operators at the Otogwu River area of Anwai Road found a body floating and alerted the agency.

“The State Emergency Management Agency intervened in the search for the girl. We looked for divers, and they had been searching for her since Monday until this morning when boat riders at Otogwu River in Anwai Road called SEMA,” Etacherure said.

The commissioner said they contacted a family member to identify the body. An ambulance from the Asaba Specialist Hospital took the remains to the hospital morgue.

Meanwhile, residents mentioned this was not the first time vehicles had been swept into the drainage during heavy rain.

An eyewitness, who did not want to be named, said other vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz GLK and a Lexus, had also fallen into the canal.

“The last one that fell inside is the Corolla, which involved the death of a young girl. This is not the first incident because vehicles usually fall into the canal back to back,” the eyewitness said.

The eyewitness blamed the ongoing incidents on poor drainage, saying the current channel cannot handle the amount of floodwater during heavy rain.

“It is the drainage because there is none good there. You cannot expect a small drainage for a flood. Things don’t work like that,” he said.

The deceased’s uncle, Andy Emephia, confirmed the family’s loss and called for urgent action on the drainage issue.

“We are bereaved now. My brother will be more scattered if he sees these questions. Why not draw your publication from the angle of the drainage that is not properly covered? That’s the main issue,” he said.

Residents are now calling for quick action to improve the drainage system. They want to prevent more loss of lives and property during heavy rains.