Tragedy struck Friday morning in Abuja when an unidentified man and his car submerged and got drowned in a flooded portion around Galadimawa round-about road.
The flooding situation occasioned by the early morning heavy downpour got the entire road and the gully canal flooded so much that the road had to be cordoned off by men of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).
An eye witness account had it that the unlucky victim was in the vehicle with his driver when the incident occurred.
However, the driver of the vehicle was rescued by some okada operators, while the unlucky owner of the car was still being search for beneath the water.
When Blueprint reporter visited the spot, he spotted a combined team of men of the FCT Fire Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and their rescue ambulance, men of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and local divers carrying out search and rescue operation at the scene of the incident.
According to Anas Faruk, an Okada man, confirmed to Blueprint Weekend that the men were driving towards the Galadimawa roundabout initially, only for them to turn towards an adjoining road heading towards Dantata bridge.
He said, “Before they knew it, flood had already taken over the road and instead of them to turn back and follow the roundabout, they decided to follow a Jeep vehicle which passed same road successfully earlier.
“While he was trying to do that the small car got stuck and they quickly ran out. In the process, they started pulling each other out of the car as there was no one to rescue them.
“As the rain continued, the surge became large and they and their car started submerging. At that point, some local divers and passers-by made attempt to rescue them and in the process, the driver was rescued, but the other man could not be reached.
Another witness, Margaret Okpala who spoke to this medium on phone told us that two bodies were pulled out of the flood eventually after the rescue team made intensified efforts, just as an unconfirmed report equally scooped that another body has been found, making it three.
“This flood thing is becoming a yearly thing and I think the government should help do something about it before it become worse.
“If you observe in the morning, the flood was already spilling over to the road and if care is not taken, this whole place would be flooded and sink in years to come,,” She feared.
Attempt to speak with the rescued driver was futile as he was being shielded bysympathizers and operatives at the scene.
Meanwhile, after joint efforts and intervention by other passers-by, information gathered by Blueprint revealed that the remains of the victims and the car have been pulled out of the flood.
