One of the chief fishermen in Apam, Nana Ekow Paynin, has been giving detailed account of how some teenagers lost their lives in the sea whilst swimming last Sunday.
They sneaked to the estuary of the River Apam in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region to have fun but never returned, and the incident was only detected the following day by some fishermen who saw bodies floating ashore.
He said he would not rule out superstition connected to the deadly incident and also said the claims that some of the victims might have been having sex in the water could be true because the area where they were is a sacred place.
He said some fishermen started pulling out bodies in the early hours on Monday, and by the close of the day 11 bodies had been discovered and retrieved from the sea.
According to him, empty beer and Guinness bottles were found at the seashore, suggesting the victims might have been drinking alcohol.
There were also three survivors who are in critical condition.
Also, according to one of the teenagers who claimed to have been part of the trip, they were 25 people in all that went swimming.
Body Identification
Nana Panyin, who is the Deputy Chief Fisherman in Apam, said later that relatives of nine of the deceased teenagers had been identified and the families traced.
He said they were finding it difficult to identify three of the bodies because they were not sure the teenagers were from Apam.
“We have been able to retrieve 12 bodies. We are appealing to parents who are in the Central Region and whose wards are yet to return home to come to Apam and confirm whether or not the unidentified bodies are those of their wards,” he added.
“No one has been visiting the sea. We issued strong warnings to ensure no one goes to the sea. We will just conclude that these kids are just stubborn because they were swimming in areas that are forbidden,” he added.
Rituals and libation had been poured to pacify the gods, which the Chief Fisherman said, helped in the retrieving about eight bodies but it was believed some of the children were still inside the water.