TWO PERSONS, a lady and a man, who jumped into the Black Volta Wednesday evening at Bongase in the Banda District of Bono Region from a canoe, are feared drowned.
The two, who were travelling with ten other passengers on the canoe, jumped into the Black Volta in an attempt to escape being burnt by fire when the outboard motor of the canoe caught fire.
The canoe sailed from Bongase Nsuano to Asuagya but when it reached a section of the Black Volta, the outboard motor fitted to the boat suddenly burst into flames.
According to a police report confirmed by the Bono Regional Police Spokesman, Assistant Superintendent of Police Kinsley Augustine Oppong, the canoe was controlled by one Holy Siama from Bongase toward Asuagya.
When the outboard motor caught fire, all the voyagers, including the missing man and lady, jumped into the lake and started swimming away.
However, “After the fire was put off, all efforts to retrieve them proved futile,” the report said.
According to the report, the boat operator sustained burns around his thighs as a result of the fire.
A brother of the operator, Elder Wisdom, and two others, reported the accident to the police at Banda.
The Banda District Police Commander, DSP Obeng Dompreh, relayed the information to the Naval team stationed at Jama in the Savannah Region led by Naval Lieutenant Gyemah for a search operation to be carried out on the missing persons who could not be traced.
The paper further gathered that the Naval Commander said since it was dark on Wednesday evening on the river, the search operation would be carried out Thursday.
danielyaodayee@yahoo.com
FROM Daniel Y. Dayee, Banda