At least nine school children died Wednesday afternoon when the canoe on which they were travelling to cross a river while returning from school got capsized at Faanaa-Wiabomaa, an island community in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra region.
The canoe was being paddled by one of the students who claimed he could ferry his colleagues across safely from the Wiaboma side where the school is located to Faana to their various homes.
The Ga South Municipal Deputy Coordinator in charge of Operations of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Wonder Jiaggey in an interview with the Ghana Times yesterday said they were greeted with sad news of the canoe accident at about 5:00 pm on Wednesday.
According to him, two families lost three children each from the accident adding that” the last child was retrieved this morning.”
Mr Jiaggey said the owner of the canoe who was not around at the time the children got to the riverside was yet to be located.
The deceased ages between one and half years and 13 years respectively, have been sent to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital mortuary in Accra for preservation and autopsy.
Meanwhile a seven-member committee has been set up by the Ga South Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Joseph Nyarni, to investigate the incidence while the Assemblyman for the area has been appointed as a liaison between the families of the deceased and the assembly to ensure a befitting burial for the departed loved one.
The Police have also called on parents of the victims to help identify their children.
The Ga South MCE has also set up another committee to investigate the circumstances leading to the recent collapse of a church building with some fatalities.
It is recalled that in March this year, a similar incident occurred where five people were confirmed dead after a boat carrying mourners capsized on the Volta Lake.
The boat was said to be conveying the mourners from Azizanya to Azizakpe when it capsized on the lake.
The incident which occurred around 9am on a Saturday was allegedly caused by strong winds.
According to an eyewitness account, about 100 persons were crossing Azizakpe, an island community on a 40-seater passenger boat when the incident happened.
Two teenage siblings and their friend also drowned in the White Volta River at Naaga, a community in the Kassena Nankana Municipality in the Upper East Region.
The unfortunate incident happened around 3pm on Saturday, April 15, 2023.
The deceased, two boys and one girl, were among eight teenagers between the ages of 11 and 17 who had gone to wash mangoes and swim in the river.
They reportedly went to get mango fruits from a big mango tree close to the river in the community since they were not allowed to take mangoes belonging to neighbours in the area.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
