Rain Kills Three Kids

A TORRENTIAL rainfall in Kumasi on Monday evening caused the sudden death of three children at different parts of the city. One of the deceased, a ten-month-old baby, whose name was given as Agya Kwaku, was trapped in bed when a house at Mbrom collapsed on him whilst asleep around 5pm. The two other deceased whose names were given as Itima, 4 and her younger sister, Hajiya, who was eight months old, also died at Dichemso near Hafia junction. The two children and their other sister, who survived the disaster, were being carried by their mother, Hawa, to flee their flooded home to safety when a wall in the house collapsed suddenly. The hapless mother perhaps got frightened following the noise that the collapsing wall made, as she lost hold of two of the three children who were carried away by the flood. In the Mbrom incident, young Kwaku�s mother, Sister Afia, was at the kitchen preparing the family�s evening meal whilst the young child was having a nap alone in the room before the house collapsed over him. The debris of the collapsed building which had trapped the young boy was removed and Agya Kwaku was rushed to the hospital for treatment but he was pronounced dead on arrival. In the Dichemso incident, Madam Hawa and her three children, two of whom are twins of eight months old, were in their room when the rain which lasted for many hours started. The house, which is close to a stream, flooded. Sensing danger, the woman placed the twins on one of her hands and placed the older child, who is 4 years old, on the other and tried to rush them out of the flooded house. But in the course of rushing the children to safety, a wall which had been soaked by the waters collapsed and the deafening noise scared the mother as she dropped two of the children in the flood water. Madam Hawa then shouted for help and her neighbours rushed to the scene, managing to rescue the older child, Itima but she was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Some Good Samaritans dived into the flooded waters in search of the other twin, Hajiya but their efforts proved futile as she was nowhere to be found. The Kumasi Central Market was also flooded. Property worth thousands of Ghana cedis got destroyed. The most affected traders in the disaster which has largely been blamed on the poor management of the Subin River were wax print, sugar and rice dealers. When Daily Guide visited the market early Tuesday morning, affected traders were seen counting their losses.