The Koforidua Divisional Policeare looking into the tragic death of a nine-year-old girl at Aberewa Nkwanta, in the Eastern Region.
The girl drowned in a swimming pool at the Tonyx Hotel on Sunday, while staying with her father and five siblings.
Although she wasn’t swimming, she was by the poolside taking pictures with other children.
The exact details of how the incident occurred are still under investigation.
Sadly, the girl was found at the bottom of the pool after her family realized she was missing while getting ready to leave.
She was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead.The hotel management has promised to cooperate with the police and is expected to release a statement about the incident.
A toddler, Agyapong Gibson, aged one year and three months, tragically lost his life after falling into a water bucket in Oversees, a suburb of Bibiani within the Bibiani, Western North region.
According to the grandmother, Augustina Osei Bonsu, the incident occurred while the toddler was playing with a bucket of water initially intended for his bath. The water was supposed to be disposed of after use.
Augustina Osei Bonsu explained that she had instructed the child’s mother, a 15-year-old Junior High School pupil, to empty the bucket. Unfortunately, the mother, preoccupied with other tasks, did not comply with the instruction.
Tragically, shortly after the grandmother left the house, Agyapong Gibson, while playing with the water, accidentally fell into the bucket and drowned.
The Bibiani police have been notified, and the body of the deceased has been taken to the morgue for further investigation. The community is in mourning following the heartbreaking loss of the young child.
Residents of Gomoa Nyanyano and the Ghana Police Service have mounted a search for a school child who was among a group of children who went swimming but drowned.
Unfortunately, two school children, estimated to be between 10 and 15 years old, lost their lives in a drowning incident.
The lives of 12 children were saved by the police who received a distress call from residents of Gomoa Nyanyano during a drowning incident on Saturday.
These students who were on Christmas break from Kasoa, went swimming in Gomoa Nyanyano.
Authorities, including personnel from the Ghana Education Service (GES), have visited the affected families and the school owner.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Awutu Senya East expressed sorrow over the tragic incident.
Tragedy struck as two school children lost their lives while 12 others were rescued in a drowning incident at Gomoa Nyanyano on Saturday.
The children, on Christmas break from Kasoa, went swimming in the area.
The police received a distress call from community members, rescued 12 children, and later recovered the bodies of two victims aged between 10 and 15.
One child is still missing. The Municipal Chief Executive for Awutu Senya East expressed condolences and noted that officials from the Ghana Education Service have visited parents and the school owner.
A 14-year-old class six pupil named Akwasi Opoku lost his life as he drowned in River Numia at Ataase Nkwanta.
The unfortunate incident occurred when the young boy ventured to the riverside with some of his friends and made the decision to go swimming, a decision that resulted in his untimely demise.
A spokesperson representing the grieving family, while confirming the heartbreaking news, expressed the profound sorrow and devastation that had befallen them. Asante Boateng Abusuapanin further revealed the additional hardship faced by Akwasi Opoku, who had recently lost his grandparents, the ones who had been raising him.
The Abusuapanin expressed hope that the boy’s body would be recovered so that he could receive a dignified burial.
In the midst of this tragic situation, local traditionalists in the community have demanded offerings, including eggs, schnapps, and minerals, to perform rituals intended to aid in locating the boy’s body.
The loss of Akwasi Opoku has left the residents in a state of shock and sorrow, with many recognizing the significant impact his passing will have on their close-knit community.
The Chief Executive of the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly, Patrick K.B. Kumor, has revealed that a minor was responsible for operating the canoe that capsized and led to the drowning of nine children in Faana.
He explained that the adult in charge of the canoe was unwell and unavailable to transport the children across the water. As a result, a 12-year-old boy took over and overloaded the canoe with other children, leading to the tragic accident.
Mr Kumor shared this information during an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, stating that his office had received reports about the minor’s involvement in the incident.
“The information we picked is that the boat was overloaded with minors and the person who was paddling it was a twelve year-old-boy who had no experience and was the one controlling the canoe at the time of the incident. The person who often does that was ill and was not available at the moment to assist them.”
He added that the section where the accident happened is the estuary where the Densu River enters the sea and the current was high in the evening and the 12-year-old not having the experience to control the boat resulted in the accident.
Mr. Kumor further intimated that a team will visit the bereaved families on Friday, May 12 after which a committee will be set up to find a lasting solution to such accidents in the area.
“On Friday, a team from the NADMO head office, the regional minister, the two assemblies, and some opinions leaders will be visiting the families, then after, a committee will be put in place to ascertain the lasting solution that needs to be provided for that area and I believe that whatever will be agreed on will be something that will be beneficial to the people of that community.”
Enyonam Ekpe, who currently stands as the only survivor of the Weija drowning incident has recounted how she narrowly escaped death when eight others failed to.
On Wednesday, May 10, 2023, the death of eight school students plunged residents in the Weija Gbawe municipality in Accra into a state of mourning.
They drowned after the boat they were travelling in capsized in a river at Wiaboman.
Interacting with JoyNews on Thursday, 13-year-old Enyonam revealed that the tragedy could have been avoided should the canoeist have heeded to her advice.
According to the teenager, there was a shortage of canoe riders on that fateful day at 5:40pm, hence she decided to utilize the service of a young paddler together with some other children.
Upon boarding the canoe, she informed the paddler the vessel could not accommodate the number of individuals who had decided to commute.
Enyonam recounts tragic incident at Weija
“I told him that there are a lot of people in the boat so he has to let some get down and take them later,” she said.
But according to Enyonam, the young paddler whose identity currently remains unknown failed to take her suggestion into consideration and began the journey.
It appears all was fine until that moment things got out of hand. Traumatised Enyonam could not tell exactly when the canoe lost balance and capsized, but all should recall was that at that very moment, she lost grip of her brother she journeyed with.
While the others failed to stay afloat, Enyonam managed to grab hold of some part of the boat up until the moment she was rescued by a good Samaritan.
Currently, the bodies of the dead children have been recovered but one, whose status is unknown, remains missing. Rescue efforts are underway to locate the missing person.
This is not the first time in the year that school children have lost their lives in pursuit of formal education in unsettling conditions.
In January this year, eight students from the Atikagome Community in the Sene East District of the Bono East Region drowned in the Volta Lake en route to school.
A student reportedly of the Gyaase SHS in the Assin North District of the Central Region has drowned in the Konkoon river.
The deceased, said to be Joseph Asante was fetching water to bathe from the river following a water shortage at the school.
Authorities of the school say the taps have been shut for a while and there was no mechanised borehole to serve as a backup.
Assin North Educational Director, Dr. Juliet Otami Boateng in an interview with ADOM FM said the student was pronounced dead after he was rushed to the St. Francis Hospital.
“We were shocked by the news of his death so we conducted some investigations. That Saturday morning the school’s tap was flowing. However, it was announced that they were going to close it. He later asked permission to go with his mate to fetch water for their bath. It was at the stream that he slipped and fell and drowned. His body was retrieved but was pronounced dead at the St. Francis Hospital,” she narrated.
According to the authorities, students rely on the river whenever there is water shortage.
Meanwhile, Dr. Juliet Otami Boateng has revealed that the school will provide mechanized boreholes as a backup to avoid such occurrences in the future.
