A seven-year-old boy, whose identity has not yet been fully released, was allegedly drowned in the torrent of a flash flood that swept through the Abrepo Bronikrom area following a sudden and heavy downpour.
The chilling incident which occurred Saturday night during a major rainstorm in the Ashanti Region has plunged the community into grief and sparked frantic search efforts.
The deceased, a young pupil, was reportedly engaged in a common childhood activity—bathing in the rain—along with two other children when disaster struck.
According to detailed eyewitness accounts, the unfortunate chain of events began when a slipper belonging to one of the children was dislodged and swept away by the rapidly rising and forceful floodwaters.
In a brave, yet ultimately fatal, act of retrieval, the seven-year-old darted into the swirling current.
His small frame was immediately overcome by the powerful surge.
He was carried away by the flood, vanishing almost instantly into the murky, fast-moving water that inundates the area during heavy rainfall.
The immediate aftermath saw local residents and emergency responders launch a desperate, round-the-clock search operation.
The search effort has been extensive but, as of the latest reports, it has yielded no success in locating the body of the young boy.
Eyewitnesses who spoke to Adom news reporter, Kwadwo Beng Mireku, confirmed the harrowing status of the search: “They are still searching for the body of the boy.”
In a reflection of the community’s profound distress and the exhaustion of conventional efforts, the search has extended into the spiritual realm.
Reports indicate that a fetish priest has now joined the effort to locate the missing child’s body, underscoring the communal trauma and the profound desire for closure.
Context: Kumasi’s Perennial Flood Crisis
This heartbreaking loss in Abrepo Bronikrom highlights the critical infrastructure failures plaguing the Kumasi metropolis.
The city, particularly low-lying suburbs like those in Bantama, has been designated as highly flood-prone.
Experts and local authorities have frequently cited a combination of factors, including unplanned urban expansion, encroachment on river basins, inadequate or choked drainage systems, and poor waste management, as the root causes.
The cost of this perennial issue is staggering, with studies showing that Kumasi loses an estimated $89 million annually in damage and loss of property from flooding, a figure projected to rise significantly without urgent, comprehensive intervention.
The ultimate price, however, remains the loss of human life, particularly the vulnerable, like this seven-year-old child.
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