Tragedy at Festival of Dagombas

From Breda-Atta-Quayson, Tamale

ONE person was shot and wounded in Tamale during the Bugum (Fire) Festival of the Dagombas at the weekend.

The incident occurred in front of the Las Hotel on the main Hospital-Yendi Road during a procession by celebrants, which forms part of the festival.

The festival started in the night around 9 o’clock with a swarm of people bearing torches parading the principal streets of Tamale amid drumming and dancing.

Intermittently, muskets were fired during the procession.

As the procession from Vittim and Kukuo, all suburbs of Tamale, crawled towards Las Hotel, a young man on a motor-bike with a lady pillion passenger, attempted to weave out of the crowd to town.

Suddenly, one of the celebrants, obviously over excited, aimed his musket at them and fired.

The lady started screaming in pain and people rushed to her aid.

She sustained burns on her left shoulder and parts of the arm and bled profusely. She was quickly taken to the hospital for treatment.

In spite of this, the procession continued to town and the celebration, which basically is a re-enactment of a search that was organised many years ago for the lost child of a legendary Dagomba chief, was otherwise peaceful and beautiful.

According to Dagomba legend, the search travelled deep into the night and those involved in the exercise, had to carry torches to be able to go about the search.