A nine year old boy, Murtala Abdullah has died at Sawaba, a suburb of Kumasi after drowning in a open drain in the area.

This followed thirty minutes of torrential rains.

The boy was playing with about ten of his friends on an open space when the rains started. The children decided to ran home for shelter after a woman reportedly screamed at them to leave.

They chose to get home through a short route where they had to cross a big gutter which had a wooden slab laid over it serving as a bridge. The gutter had flooded two boys slipped into the gutter as they crossed.

Uncle of the deceased, Mohammed Fuseini who spoke to newsmen explained that the other boy after slipping from the wood which was very weak and falling into the gutter, held on to a metal but unfortunately his nephew Murtala Abdullah was swept off by the strong volume of water.

The residents are angry over the innocent boy’s death saying it would have been avoided if there was a bridge over the gutter.

The resident said they have severally complained and urged leadership of the town to fix or construct a new bridge has been unsuccessful. “The assembly men and MP come and promise us but after their voted into power they forget us, and now see what has happened” a resident said.