13 Kids Drown At 'Bola' Beach

Mohammed, Umma Hawa and Gideon Acquah

The twin Accra suburbs of Nima and Mamobi are in a state of mourning following the drowning of 13 kids from the areas on Sunday- a rare tragedy which many find difficult to come to terms with.

The children, some of them as young as 12, had trooped to the part of the Osu beach facing the former Hearts of Oak training ground, otherwise called Borla Beach or Mensah Guinea, to swim when they met their fate.

A concerned resident, Alhaji Gado, told DAILY GUIDE that he was at a social joint with friends when word reached them that some kids they knew had drowned at the beach.

The friends, he said, were detailed to go and find out what had really happened and unfortunately, their worst fears were confirmed.

Narrating the story to DAILY GUIDE, Alhaji Gado said the kids turned up in different groups at the beach, which is highly favoured by children from areas like Tudu, Konkonba Market, Nima and Mamobi.

Sundays and public holidays are known to attract a lot of sea-goers and most cases of drowning take place on the aforementioned days.

He said it was between 2.00pm and 3.00pm when the kids arrived at the beach, but an adult, on spotting them, was said to have told them to return home.

A bystander was said to have told the man who sought to discourage the kids from swimming to allow them to have fun, to which he obliged.

The man, whose word failed to discourage the kids from having their way, had not gone far when he heard that some kids were being swept away by unfriendly waves, whereupon he returned and took part in a lifesaving mission, rescuing three.

The rest could not be saved as they were swept by the angry Atlantic Ocean waves. The bodies of some of the kids are yet to be recovered as at press time.

Families mourning their lost ones stretched from the part of Nima called Research to the bowels of the adjoining Mamobi. In one particular house, two kids were lost to the sea.

Two of the recovered kids are Umma Hawa, 16, of 441 and Fatima, 12, who lives behind the 108 Forex Bureau- both pupils of a Madrasat or Islamic school and basic schools in their areas of residence.

A certain Khalid, a co-resident of the late Umma Hawa's house, is yet to be recovered, DAILY GUIDE has learnt.

The residents of a house called Gidan Soja, near Research, are still expecting word about the discovery of the remains of two kids from their house, Gideon Acquah and Mohammed.

Even as the remains of the recovered bodies were being prepared for burial, word had come about the discovery of more bodies in the Kokrobite area.

The Osu Police District Police Commander, ASP Ayambila, confirmed the recovery of two bodies yesterday at Osu and asked family members interested in taking possession of them for burial to contact his office for a coroner's report to facilitate the process.

Some family members appeared not ready to go through laid-down procedure and were too eager to have their loved ones buried.

Not too long ago, this part of Osu witnessed the drowning of some persons, one of them a naval officer.

The naval officer got drowned when he tried to save a drowning man.

It would be recalled that the District Police Commander took the opportunity to warn holidaymakers to be wary of the dangers of swimming but it appears that his word did not go far.

The Mensah Guinea, or Borla Beach, has claimed many lives over the years. The place is a free-for-all zone for both skilled swimmers and novices, with no lifeguards nearby to save those drowning.

By A.R. Gomda