The body of a missing doctor who’s vehicle slipped away in floodwaters Monday has been found, Greater Accra Regional Coordinator for the Organization Archibald Cobbinah confimed to MyJoyOnline.
A local fisherman found Aya Hayfron’s body, which has since been sent to a morgue.
Hayfron went missing on Monday after her vehicle was trapped on a bridge on Teshie Bush Road.
Monday evening began like any other for Bernard Kofi Agyei Oppong and Aya Hayfron, a married couple who were at home tending to their 15-month-old son after a long day’s work. But the day ended in catastrophe when a flooded bridge washed Oppong’s wife away, leaving a family heartbroken and a community angered by what has become the new normal of Ghana’s weak infrastructure taking lives.
“The whole incident happened so fast,” Oppong told Joy FM’s Daniel Dadzie on the Super Morning Show Wednesday.
On Monday evening around 7PM, Dr. Hayfron, a medical doctor who recently completed her housemanship at Ridge Hospital, left home and headed to church where she was leading a meeting for her congregation’s choir. Oppong says shortly after she left, he fell asleep, but Monday’s torrential downpour woke him. For her safety, he proceeded to call his wife advising her to spend the night at her parent’s house, which was closer to her church. No answer.
An hour later, she called informing him she was trapped at a bridge on Teshie Bush Road, not far away from where they live. He rushed out of the house – leaving behind a crying baby – and into flood waters, in the hope he could help her but saw her car was stuck in floodwaters.
“I was parked about 150 meters away and saw her struggling to get out of the car,” Oppong described. “I was running through the water. I chased after the car but I was blocked by a building.”
He says at some point, the waters were up above his waist level but determined to save her, he swam to her car, where a group of people were attempting to rescue her.
Moments later, he says her vehicle slowly slid into a river with her trapped inside. Helpless, he watched his wife disappear. It was the last time he saw her. “It’s hard to describe how I feel,” he said fighting back tears. “At some points, I can’t breathe. My heart aches.”
He says following his wife’s disappearance, he went to the nearest police station requesting for help. They dispatched a search team to locate his wife. A crane was sent to the site to retrieve Hayfron’s vehicle
Since that interview, the car has been retrieved from the ditch, but her body was not found inside.
Hayfron’s vehicle was recovered Wednesday morning. She has yet to be found.
“We still don’t know where my wife is,” Oppong cried.
Hayfron’s disappearance has raised questions about whether the bridge will be safe for motorists who will drive on it when future storms hit the area.
Search crews attempting to find
Teshie’s Police Superintendent, Peter Yembila, told Joy FM that as far as he knows, the bridge is prone to flooding, and “the authorities will have to look into this.”
Meanwhile, Oppong is urging anyone with any information leading to the reappearance of his wife to contact him immediately
