Flood Sweeps Undergraduate in Her Father’s Car into Canal, Body Found Days Later In River

A father’s routine morning drive to drop his daughter at her Industrial Training place ended in tragedy on Monday when floodwaters swept their Toyota Corolla into a deep drainage channel in Asaba, Delta State.

The incident occurred at Okotimi Layout, behind the Asaba Specialist Hospital, following a torrent of rain.

While the deluge overwhelmed the vehicle, the undergraduate was carried away by the current; searchers recovered her body two days later.

“He was driving to a place where the daughter was doing her industrial attachment. As he was driving, the road was flooded, and the water was pushing the vehicle into the drain,” the source said.

According to a witness, the victim was sitting in the front passenger seat and desperately called out for help before being carried away by the surging waters.

Her father was, however, rescued from the scene and taken to a hospital for emergency treatment.

The Delta State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), operating under the Bureau for Special Duties, confirmed the tragedy.

Delta State Commissioner for Special Duties Ejiro Terry Etacherure stated that search operations—supported by local divers—began immediately on Monday.

The search concluded on Wednesday when boat operators along the Otogwu River, near Anwai Road, spotted the body floating in the water and alerted authorities.

“The State Emergency Management Agency intervened in the search for the girl. We looked for divers, and they had been searching for her since Monday until this morning when boat riders at Otogwu River in Anwai Road called SEMA,” Etacherure said.

The commissioner said a family member was contacted to identify the body, adding that an ambulance from the Asaba Specialist Hospital later conveyed the remains to the hospital morgue.

Local residents disclosed that Monday’s tragic loss of life is part of a recurring pattern, noting that several vehicles have been swept into the same drainage channel during torrential rains.

An eyewitness, who requested anonymity, recalled previous incidents involving high-end vehicles such as a Mercedes-Benz GLK and a Lexus.

“This Toyota Corolla incident, which claimed the girl’s life, is just the latest,” the source said. “Cars fall into this canal repeatedly during heavy downpours.”

Residents blamed the recurring mishaps on an inadequate drainage network that fails to handle high volumes of stormwater, urging the state government to urgently upgrade the infrastructure to prevent future fatalities.