An 18-year-old Junior High School (JHS) student of Assin Andoe D/A Basic School in the Assin South District of the Central Region has drowned in River Ochi while attempting to swim to impress his friends for a reward of Gh₵10.
The deceased, Stephen Nimako-Appau, is said to have gone to the river with his friends to swim to show them his swimming skills on Wednesday, May 24.
However, he sank immediately after he dived into the river and wasn’t found again.
Consequently, his friends rushed home to inform the elders of the town about the incident. As a result, a search party of local divers and fire service officers began searching for him.
After almost 30 hours of searching with fowl and sheep being slaughtered to appease the gods, the body of the deceased is yet to be found.
The Assemblyman for Assin Andoe Electoral Area, William Appiah, has also advised the residents, especially children, to be careful when going into the river to swim or fetch water since the heavy downpour has increased the volume of the river.
Cases of drowning have become rampant in the country.
On Sunday, May 21, 2023, two siblings drowned in an abandoned pool at Akyem Oda in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern Region.
The two were Esther Dede, 13, and Kofi Asare, six.
Mother of the deceased, Grace Asare, while narrating the incident said the children went out to play close to the abandoned pool on the compound of an out-of-use sawmill.
Drowning trends
In a related development, a report released by researchers from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Accra on Friday, February 11, 2023, has revealed that Ghana recorded 1449 drowning cases in the last three years.
According to the research study, the total number of drowning cases recorded include 1,142 fatal cases, 305 non-fatal cases and two unknown cases.
Furthermore, the result of the research study also indicated a high number of males involved in both fatal and non-fatal drowning cases, which stood at 1,185 as against 231 for females.
It adds that drowning frequently occurred among males, children and young adults.
The research was conducted in partnership with the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation with funding from the Bloomberg Philanthropies in 52 coastal, inland water and dry districts.