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Rescuers at the community affected by the disaster.
Five persons, including three children,are reported dead after the boat they were travelling on from Azizanya to Azizakpe in the Ada East District, capsized on the Volta Lake, last Saturday.
The dead, comprise of two female adults and three children,were purportedly among 100 passengers traveling from Azizanya to attend a funeral at Azizakpe when the tragedy occurred.
The unidentified bodies havesince beentaken to the mortuary, and scores of victims have been saved by arescue team.
The National Disaster and Management Organisation (NADMO) Director of Ada East District, Mr Ebenezer Teye-Nartey, confirmed the tragedy to the Ghanaian Times yesterday.
He said thatthe incident,which occurred around 8:30am, last Saturday,was said to have been triggered by strong waves on the lake.
Mr Teye-Nartey said that information revealed that the boat, which was supposed to carry between 40 and 50 people, was loaded with almost 100 passengers.
He stated that the boat capsized during the journey and the rescue team retrieved the bodies of two female adult between the ages of 30 and 40, and three children less than two years.
Mr Teye-Narteysaid a rescue teammanaged to rescue scores of the victims, but the actual number of rescued persons could not be determined as those who were not injured had left home.
He said rescuers, including NADMO officials, personnel from the Ghana Police Service, Navy and community folks were still on the lake to retrieve bodies.
Mr Teye-Narteysaid the boat was also recovered by the rescue team on Sunday noon.
Eyewitness told journalists that the boat was overloaded while passengers were not in life jackets when the incident happened.
The incident was reported to have attracted a large crowd to the fishing community in anticipation of seeing their relations, and others wept uncontrollably when bodies were retrieved from the lake. Some members of the community were groups discussing the tragedy.
It would be recalled that similar incident occurred in early January this year, when eight school children were downed on the lake.
They were among 220 school children, who were crossing the lake with a canoe from Atigagome to Wayokope District Assembly Primary School.
BY ANITA NYARKO –YIRENKYI
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Source: GhanaianTimes | Read More
