Two children named Silviya and Ayinpoka both females have been confirmed dead following a heavy downpour on Thursday,at Kalbeo community in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region.
The victims, Silviya and Ayinpoka aged 5 and 10 respectively met their untimely death from their separate family homes.
A relative to Silviya, who gave his name as Sunday, narrated the incident to A1 News that “at the time that it was drizzling, I was about to catch a sleep when I heard ‘bokizaa’ so, I quickly rushed out of my room to see what happened. Then, I saw that it was my senior brother’s room that a log has fallen on. So I rushed there but to find out that his elder daughter, Silviya, was in the room. So, family members quickly came and we rushed her and the grandmother to Afrikids Hospital in Bolgatanga, she was pronounced dead few minutes after being admitted.”
Sunday added that the family is in shock because ,the log that has fallen from the said tree was a family shrine which they pay homage periodically so it came as a surprise to them that even if a disaster happens not from their own shrine.
He however indicated that something might have gone terribly wrong for the family to be visited with the disaster.
“We cannot speak because what has happened is surprising to all of us as family members because that tree is a shrine. And not in any history will a shrine kill a family member. So I’m surprised.”he said.
A visit to the second victim’s (Ayinepoka) saw mourners besieging the house to sympathize with the bereaved.
A relative to the deceased whose name was given as Maxwell also narrated to A1 News how it occurred.
“After the heavy rain and it was now raining small, small, I went outside to free myself when I hear someone crying and shouting for help. So, I rushed to the place and saw an old lady on the floor crying and shouting that one of her rooms has collapsed on her three grandchildren. So, I was also shouting for help whilst searching for the children in the collapsed room. Then, a lot of neighbors also gathered to help in the search, but for almost an hour of search, we were able to find all of them and took them to the Regional hospital, but upon arrival, her elder daughter (Ayinepoka) was pronounced dead.“He explained.
The rainstorm according to the community members was unusual and therefore called on relevant authorities especially the National Disaster Management Organization to intervene to advert future disasters.
The rainstorm has also succeeded in truncating power supply to the community because majority of electric poles have been broken.
Meanwhile,the National Disaster Management Organization upon hearing the sad incident rushed to the community and assured affected family members of it’s commitment of ensuring their safety.
Source:A1radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Ghana
