Tragedy struck at Buanchor, a rural community in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State when the wind generated by the helicopter carrying Vice President Namadi Sambo pulled down the mud house of a 78-year-old Mrs Bessie Obi while landing.
The incident took place when the Vice President visited the area recently devastated by landslide from surrounding mountings, silting rivers and streams that led to widespread flood which rendered many homeless.
The old woman was rescued by officers of Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, and their counterparts from National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, from the three room mud house housing four other people, though some of the properties of the occupants were destroyed.
The Vice President whose helicopter caused the destruction was unaware of the incident but the state Director–General of SEMA, Mr. Vincent Aquah, who assessed the damage, sympathized with the septuagenarian and the other occupants of the house, promising that the incident would be addressed shortly.
Buanchor community, Katabang, Orimekpang and Boje in Boki Local Government Area, and some communities in Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State were heavily flooded on account of the landslide. Statistics from SEMA showed that 1,311 farms, two mills, one school, four bridges, nine culverts and 187 buildings were affected by the landslide and flood in Boki Local Government Area.
