At least seven junior high school pupils have been confirmed dead in a boat disaster on the Oti River in the Saboba District of the Northern Region.
Three pupils are still missing and about 21 others were rescued on Friday (12 November), Assistant Superintendent of Police Shine Zokoiku, the Saboba District commander, told reporters.
The dead children were said to be returning from a farm on Friday when the vessel capsized on the river. It is also reported that a group of 31 students from St Charles Lwanga Junior High School had been returning from their headteacher’s farm when the disaster occurred.
The Accra-based Joy FM reported ASP Zokoiku as saying that the police suspect that the boat was overloaded.
Meanwhile, David Takah, the brother of the headteacher, told the radio station that the family does not know the headmaster’s whereabouts. All efforts to contact him so far have failed.
Drowning incidents are common in Ghana, especially in the southern regions, where accidents associated with illegal mining are common.
In October, at least four young people died when their boat capsized on the River Offin in the Ashanti Region.
Their bodies were pulled from the river after nearly three days of searching for those missing.
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