Disaster On Volta Lake
The recurrent boat tragedy on the Volta Lake has struck again at Wusuta in the Kpando District in the Volta Region, with about 20 people feared dead.
The latest disaster occurred between Wusuta-Tornu and the Afram Plains Monday and eyewitnesses said the casualty rate would have been higher but for the courage of a schoolteacher of the Torganu District Assembly School.
According to the eyewitnesses, Mr Raphael Nanikuma, the teacher, plunged into the river and rescued some of the victims onto a boat which had remained afloat until the arrival of some fishermen.
With the support of the fishermen who were on their own expedition, the lives of 14 schoolchildren and three adults were saved, with 20 other passengers still missing.
Among the adults who were rescued by Mr Nanikuma was a pregnant woman, Rita Kodjokuma, who is currently on admission at the Anfoega Catholic Hospital, where she corroborated the story that she had been saved by the teacher.
She said the accident occurred when the schoolchildren and some adults were returning from the funeral of a school pupil at Wusuta and encountered a storm along the journey from Wusuta-Tornu to the Afram Plains.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic later, Mr Nanikuma, who was part of the funeral delegation, said the Go Ye Faith Church at Tornu had chartered two small boats for the schoolchildren and others who had attended the funeral to enable them to make their return journey to the Afram Plains.
He said 15 minutes after setting off, that was, about 4.30 p.m, the boats were struck by a storm which threw them out of the control of the crew and caused one of them to capsize, adding that the captain of the boats and his assistants swam to safety, abandoning the passengers to their fate.
Mr Nanikuma said he dived into the water when one of the boats was still afloat and managed to rescue some of the children and adults who were in danger of getting drowned until help eventually came from some fishermen on service boats around 11 p.m.
At a meeting with a section of the community, the Unit Committee Chairman of Tornu, Mr David Addae, said the two boats were being propelled by one outboard motor, adding that the second boat was tied by a rope to the one with the engine.
He said although the accident occurred about 5 p.m., he heard of the disaster around 10 p.m.
He said the community mobilised itself to rescue some of the passengers and sent them to the Anfoega Catholic Hospital.
He added that the body of a two-year-old girl, who was identified as Gloria Tseyi, was later retrieved and sent to the mortuary of the same hospital.
Mr Addae said the matter had been reported to the police at Anfoega and the community was organising a search party to look for the missing persons.
The Assembly Member, Mr Emmanuel Afelete, expressed misgivings over the inability of the nearest police station at Vakpo to respond to their distress call, thereby compelling them to cross over to Anfoega.
Meanwhile, a state of mourning has been declared at Wusuta, with Asafo drumming at the lakeside at Tornu. A large number of sympathisers were seen trooping to the scene about five kilometres away. Among them was the Paramount Stool Father, Mr Kwami Kotoku.