A 13-year-old girl was lost in a flood caused by intense rains on Wednesday night in Awka, the capital of Anambra State.
The girl, whose guardian runs a food stand on Ziks Avenue in Awka, was attempting to save their wheelbarrow from the flood when she unintentionally tripped and went into the drainage system.
The girl was instantly carried away by the swiftly flowing torrent, according to a witness to the tragic event, and her body was finally discovered down the road.
“The girl was trying to rescue their wheelbarrow, which was being swept away by flood. They were two girls, but one of them, who was the eldest, missed her step and fell into the drainage, and was immediately swept away.
“People around the area rallied round and rescued the girl in drainage down the road, but before then, she was already dead.
“The woman she was helping was wailing helplessly in the rain, and everybody pitied her. From what we gathered, she was not the mother of the girls; they were girls who were helping her in her shop.
“She kept lamenting, asking herself what story she would tell the parents of the child. It was such a horrible sight,” the source said.
Ziks Avenue, located in the centre of Awka, is infamous for having significant floods whenever the town receives rain.