Choicenewsonline Your Choice Is Here
Reports indicate that no fewer than eight pupils have perished after a boat they were travelling on capsized on the Volta Lake.
Boat capsizes on Volta Lake
According to citinewsroom.com, the pupils from the Atikagome Community in the Sene East District of the Bono East region were travelling on the boat to school it capsized.
The news website reports that the eight deceased pupils were among 20 others who were travelling from Atikagome to Wayokope when the incident occurred midway into the journey.
The Sene East Director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Ibrahim Wudonyim has confirmed the sad incident.
He said that his outfit got information about the tragedy late and there was little they could do to save the lives of the victims.
He added that it occurred in a small fishing community where the only school in the area is located.
A similar tragic incident occurred on Thursday, April 14 last year in which seven out of twenty people travelling on the same Volta Lake died after the boat capsized.
It occurred in the Afram Plains area of the Eastern Region.
The passengers were travelling from Dzemani to Havekope, but at about 8:00 am, they encountered a heavy storm on the lake, which overwhelmed them.
Some of the passengers were rescued by local fishermen, but seven drowned.
The ages of the deceased in that tragedy ranged between 16 and 31.
Also, in May 2020, five people died after a boat carrying 25 passengers from Dzemeni to Agalakope was hit by a heavy storm, causing it to capsize. Ten people were immediately rescued but the others perished.
One of the victims, an 18-year-old boy, saved himself, but his 60-year-old mother, Adjoa Ahilehe, didn’t survive.
Also, in 2021, six people reportedly died when the canoe in which they were travelling on the same Volta Lake capsized.
The incident occurred in the Biakoye District of the Oti Region, killing four females and two males, while four other passengers were saved.
Reports by the Daily Graphic stated that one of the victims was identified as Evelyn Gadagoe, a final-year student at Kadjebi-Asato Senior High School.
According to the Police Commander for Nkonya, DSP David Asirifi Donkor, information gathered from eyewitnesses indicated that the passengers on board the canoe were returning to their villages after going to work on their farms.
He said that along the journey, the canoe encountered strong winds and capsized.
