The Delta State Government has on Thursday April 20, confirmed that a rainstorm claimed no fewer than seven lives, leaving others injured.
The incident was said to have happened on Wednesday night in the community located in Oshimili South Local Government Area of the oil-rich state.
The wind was said to have uprooted a tree claimed to be about three hundred years. This ugly incident had forced residents of the community to run for safety. `the tree crashed into two homes, resulting in the deaths that left members of the community in mourning.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, who disclosed this at a news conference in Asaba, said the victims included a 10-year-old boy.
According to Aniagwu, deaths were recorded in Oko axis of Oshimili and Okpanam, Oshimili South North Local Government Areas of the state.
“The storm that greeted the downpour on Wednesday, in the Oko axis, we lost six persons as the rainstorm fell on a building and some trees and the collapsed structure led to the death of six persons.
“One other is critically injured and he is being attended to at the Asaba Specialist Hospital, while five others are in a stable condition but sustained some level of injury,” he said.
He added, “there is also another one that is so pathetic. In Okotomi Community in Okpanam, the state government is intervening with flood control measures to save the community from flooding and to open up the area.
“But on account of the rainstorm on Wednesday, a 10-year-old lad, who was returning from Church in the evening slipped and fell into the drain that was being constructed.
“And because of the large volume of water in the ongoing construction project, the lad was swept by the flood and all attempts by neighbours and others to recover him failed, though the search is still on as at today.
“This is quite disturbing and we pray that God will grant their families the strength to bear that loss, even as we ask God to comfort us as a state.”
He said that a government team coordinated by the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Patrick Ukah was on ground to ensure that the body was recovered.
