Two Schoolchildren Swept Away Into Drainage By Rain Flood, One Dead
Two children were swept inside a drainage channel on Agege Motor Road, Mushin, Lagos, on Tuesday, July 1.
Victims’ mother near the drainage channel. Credits: Samson Folarin
Two pupils of Myyoung Barracks Primary School in the Fadeyi, Yaba area of Lagos, Gbenga Oladejo, and his sister, Tolani, were on their way to school when the heavy rain started washing away both of them into the channel. Luckily, the 10-year-old Tolani was rescued by residents, while her younger brother, Gbenga drowned.
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According to eyewitness, Bayo Olowa, the incident happened around 9am, when he together with other locals saw a kid slipping into the drainage channel. His sister wanted to save him, but fell headlong into it as well. They immediately ran to the drainage channel and tried pulling the legs of one of them, but the water was too forceful. The girl was holding on to an iron inside the drainage, that is what saved her life. The boy's body is yet to be recovered.
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The shocked Tolani was rushed to a private hospital for treatment, now she is in stable condition. The mother of the victim in her house on Akobi Crescent, in front of Birch Freeman School in Surulere, said, “It was around 8.45am, after the rain had subsided, that I told them to go to school. Ten minutes later, I decided to also go out. I saw a crowd of people saying two kids fell into the drainage. I didn’t care much and passed by them. It was later that I learnt that the victims were my children.”
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Rain waters from the Railway Line, Kubiyi and Bada areas merge into flood waters that erode the streets while the channel is too small and could not cope with water streams. A resident, Jamiu Keru, suggested that an iron wall be constructed around the drainage channel so that in the event of another mishap, it would be easier for victims to be rescued.
Source: Legit.ng
