The chairman, Ogbaru Flood Committee in Anambra, Ogochukwu Nwasike, has cried out for help as scores of persons were still in a boat mishap that occurred at Umunankwo in Ogbaru council area of the state.

It was gathered that about 85 passengers were in the boat ferrying from Onukwu Bridge to Nkwo Ogbakuba Market when it capsized on Friday morning.

Mr Nwasike said since the incident occurred, no government agency had visited the scene to help recover the bodies of the over 20 missing passengers.

Also confirming the incident, Pascal Aniegbunam, Transition Committee Chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra, said about 30 passengers lost their lives in the accident.

Mr Aniegbunam told NAN over the telephone on Saturday that so far, 30 persons have been rescued, and 20 corpses recovered, while search teams were still looking for more bodies.

The chairman noted that houses, farms and other businesses in Ogbaru had been submerged by flood, leaving many people in tears and hopelessness.

According to him, some affected communities are Ogwu Ikpele, Akili Ogidi, Obeagwe, Ossomala Ogwuaniocha, Umunankwo, Ogbakuba, Ochuche, Umuzu, Akili Ozizor, Atani, Ohita and Odekpe.

Others affected by the ravaging flood are: Amiyi, Iyiowa, Ogbeukwu, Okoti and parts of the Okpoko community.

When contacted, Tochukwu Ikenga, the police spokesperson in Anambra, said he was not aware of the accident.

Mr Ikenga said rather, the command had been receiving reports of flooding in Ogbaru and had activated its marine department to help provide necessary support in the area as may be needed.

Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) urged residents in flood-risk areas to relocate, saying that as of Friday, the flood level rose above the 2012 flood level by 11 per cent.

Thickman Tanimu, zonal coordinator of NEMA, South-East, said it would be difficult to access the area due to the high water level.

“What I suspected happened yesterday at Ogbaru, Anambra, going by the report we received from the State Emergency Management Agency, is that the water kept rising, and the people were trapped.

“They decided to escape the rising water, and 85 of them jam-packed inside the boat, which capsized due to the rising flood.”

He described the incident as “unfortunate”, noting that the flood covered houses to rooftops.

“Out of the 85 persons, nine were found, and the remaining 76 are nowhere to be found,” he noted.

The NEMA official also stated that a pregnant woman and two men died in flood in the Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu.

“It is sad to note that as of yesterday, we recorded 79 deaths due to the rising flood; 76 in Anambra and three in Enugu,” he said.

Mr Tanimu said the agency was in talks with the Military in Onitsha and Abuja to activate the Disaster Response Unit (DRU) to airlift trapped residents in the affected communities.

“With the rising flood, airlifting is the only solution right now. Any boat there will likely capsize because the flood has covered houses to roof level.

“The 82 Division of the military is preparing, and once they get the go-ahead from Abuja, we will begin to airlift those who want to leave because our people are very conservative, and they might refuse to go,” he said.

(NAN)