At least seven people have died with hundreds
made homeless as swathes of Sierra Leone’s capital
were submerged by massive flooding after hours of
torrential rain, emergency management officials said
Thursday.
Residents described how waters destroyed their
homes, swept away household goods and damaged
vehicles as Freetown, an overcrowded city of 1.2
million, was pounded overnight.
“The seven corpses were brought in intermittently
overnight but we know that more will come,”
Amara Kamara, a mortuary attendant at the city’s
main Connaught Hospital, told AFP.
“The corpses include two kids aged three-and-a-
half and four, as well as a 10-year-old girl.”
It rains six months of the year in Freetown, one of
the world’s wettest cities, and putrid water from its
populated slopes inundate its coastal slums every
summer bringing cholera, dysentery and
respiratory infections.
At least 20 neighbourhoods were flooded by the
five-hour storm, according to a statement from the
presidency, which said torrential monsoon rain
was expected to continue for at least six days.
Police and soldiers were deployed to the worst-hit
areas to maintain law and order, it said, while
residents were being urged to stay at home.
A doctor told AFP rainwater had inundated six
wards in the Connaught, the country’s largest
hospital, forcing patients to be moved to makeshift
treatment areas.
“We were able to contain the situation as we
admitted over 100 people for abrasions, shock and
hypothermia, while about 40 were treated and
discharged,” a separate medical source told AFP.
Mohamed Sillah, a worker at the Brookfields
National Stadium, said over 600 people had sought
refuge by 7:30 am (0730 GMT).
The 45,000-capacity Brookfields, home to the
national football team, is one of two Freetown
sports grounds where emergency services were
telling people to seek refuge.
Sillah said emergency workers were distributing
drinks, bread and foam mattresses with women
and children being prioritised.
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