UPDATED: 1 Dies, 4 Rescued As Flood Ravages Abuja Estate

At least one person has been reported dead while four persons got injured as flood swept through Trademore Estate in Lugbe area of Abuja on Friday.

An eyewitness, Williams Joe, who spoke to LEADERSHIP after the incident, said the flood swept away a driver of a Peugeot car, who has been adjudged to have died while four other victims were rescued.

Collaborating the story, Ezekiel Manzo of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said the Agency’s staff have been deployed to assist in curtailing the situation.

He said there was ongoing search and rescue activity at Imo Street, Trademore Estate in Lugbe where a Peugeot 406 driver with a registration No. YLA 681 FS got drowned in the flood and still missing at press time.

He, however, said four persons were rescued and in stable condition while the search for the driver and possible occupants of the 406 continued

Aside NEMA, other stakeholders present at the incident scene included the Fire Service, FCT FEMA, Red Cross and Federal Ministry of Environment-Flood Department.

Recall that flood has continued to ravage the estate yearly due to construction deficiency, which has blocked the waterway in the residential estate.

Just last year, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) approved the demolition of structures blocking the waterway, noting that  the perennial flooding at the estate was human-induced.

The immediate-past FCT minister, Mohammed Bello, approved the removal of 23 houses earlier marked for demolition at the estate.

He blamed the perennial flooding at TradeMore Estate on human induced activities, noting that the developer had allocated plots of land on waterways with development ongoing at the time.