<<Print>>Tragedy struck at Mamobi, an Accra suburb, on Sunday when four girls from the area drowned at the Mensah Guinea segment of the Accra Beach near the Arts Centre.
The Mensah Guinea beach is notorious for such accidents.
Mamobi was thrown into mourning following news of the deaths of the four school girls. Two of them were identified as Farida and Hamdiya, but the identities of the two others were still unknown as at press time yesterday. They have since been buried at the Madina cemetery under Islamic tradition. One had earlier been buried on Sunday.
Daily Guide learnt that they had gone to the beach to swim to while away the time.
It is usual for teenagers to go swimming at the beach but most of them are normally not good swimmers and with no lifeguards around, tragedies have often been recorded.
As if he had a premonition, Daily Guide learnt, the father of one of the girls warned her not to go to the beach but she defied her father’s advice.
The cause of the tragedy was unknown but speculations are rife that the Sunday early morning downpour might have resulted in high tide leading to the mishap.
Police were unaware of the tragic incident as at press time yesterday.
Accra Floods
Meanwhile, parts of the national capital were inundated with the perennial floods as most residential areas, particularly low lands, came under floods.
A 43-year-old woman was reported to have lost her life at Pokuase on the outskirts of the city when a collapsed wall fell on her during Sunday’s torrential rain.
Deputy Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Joseph Yamin, who told Citi Fm about the mishap, was unable to state the actual cause of the incident, suspecting that the situation might have occurred because the victim was living in a flood-prone area.
“It is reported that a 43-year-old woman lost her life because a wall fell on her. We are yet to confirm from the mortuary the exact cause of the incident but clearly the place the lady was living was flooded… It is reported that she died as a result of a broken wall. That is the only casualty recorded as far as the weekend’s rains are concerned,” Mr Yamin recounted.
The Saturday and Sunday downpours created inconveniences to residents in Accra.
The rains, which affected low-lying areas such as Mallam, Awoshie, Santa Maria, Kwashiebu, Circle Odawna and Kaneshie among other places, left several people displaced and destroyed some properties.
Yamin said residents who were greatly affected by the floods would be given relief items. Lately, NADMO is said to be facing a shortage of relief materials.
“We are yet to have a full assessment of the flooding to determine what relief items to send out,” he said.
While emphasising the need for citizens to do their best to ensure that floods are prevented, Mr Yamin also asked NADMO to play its role in ensuring that Ghanaians are educated on effective measures to prevent flooding in these areas.