Babies Perish In Volta Lake Disaster

The 50 passengers – 30 adults and 20 children – were returning from the Ayirafie-Battor landing site to a nearby community called Kisikope after a monthly immunization exercise during which the babies were said to have been weighed, when the mishap occurred.

The capsized boat displaced 50 passengers around Agbletime-Keisikofe and Boposo near Tokoroano in the Krachi-East district of the Volta Region at about 2:30 pm on a market day of the area. Eighteen people were confirmed dead.

The number was arrived at following three days of rescue missions involving a combined team of the NADMO, the police, Boat Owners Association of the area, the Zoil personnel of Zoomlion and other volunteers.

However, a source put the latest figure at 29, but there is no official confirmation aside the 18 deaths earlier declared.

Survivors of the tragedy were still unknown as at press time last night – five days after the accident.

The Volta Regional National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Coordinator, Simon Bakar, says survivors and their families were refusing to inform the police and other agencies about their missing relatives for the necessary investigations to be conducted.

Some bereaved families had also refused to report their dead to the police on cultural and traditional grounds. They believe that police intervention would prolong the burial of their beloved ones.

Mr. Bakar said, 'They believe that if their kinsmen die through unnatural means like boat accidents and the like, they are to be buried almost immediately without being sent to town and made too public.' He said although 18 people had been confirmed dead, the survivors could not be accounted for, creating suspicion that more people could have either lost their lives or were survivors.

From Fred Duodu, Ho ( [email protected] )