Tragedy At Weija: 9 School Kids Drown

One of the deceased school kids being carried away by some community members

Tragedy has visited Faana, a community in the Greater Accra Region after nine children drowned last Wednesday.

The tragedy occurred when the kids were returning from school to the island community on which they live and the canoe on which they were capsized.

Twelve persons, one of them the boat owner, were said to be on the canoe when the accident occurred, claiming nine lives initially.

There were three survivors who managed to swim to safety when the accident took place.

The body of one of the kids, a girl, was discovered on Thursday morning after she went missing and a search did not yield positive results.

The community has been thrown into a state of mourning following the incident.

The recovered bodies have been deposited at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and parents have been urged by the police to come and identify them.

Earlier, eight persons drowned at Azizanya in the Ada estuary.

On January 24, 2023, eight school children drowned in the Volta Lake following the capsizing of a boat on which they were travelling.

According to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) at the time, the deceased were among 20 pupils who were in the boat travelling from Atikagome to Wayokope, where their school is located.

Twelve pupils managed to swim to safety.

The eight deceased, NADMO says comprises five boys and three girls between the ages of five and twelve.

The Sene East District Director of NADMO, Ibrahim Wudonyim disclosed that before they got to the accident scene, some community members and Marine Police had managed to retrieve all eight bodies from the lake.

He explained that the incident happened around 7:00am and that the boat capsized midway.

The community has been thrown into mourning, shock and fear as a result of the incident.

Drowning on the Volta River is a common trend, especially during bad weather.