Five people have been confirmed dead, and one missing, following a heavy rain that caused flooding in some parts of Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city, on Thursday evening.

Mr. Kwabena Nsenkyire, the Ashanti Regional Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and said they were swept away by fast-moving water.

Their bodies had been recovered but he could not readily provide their names.

Asibi, Sawaba and Maxima near the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) were the worst hit areas.

He said but for the swift response of the Ghana National Fire Service and NADMO, the casualty figures would have been higher.

The emergency response team rescued 293 people, who made distressed calls.

He added that they were still searching to recover the body of the missing person, believed to be a teenage girl.

The rain, which lasted for about six hours’, destroyed property running into thousands of cedis.

NADMO and GNFS were now providing 24-hour emergency service to protect lives and property in the city.