5 People drown in 2 Districts in North East Region within 24 hours

Five people have drowned in two districts of the North East Region, within 24 hours, officials say.

At Kunufor, a community in the Chereponi District, three girls got drowned on Friday afternoon.The victims, aged between 16 and 20 had gone to wash clothes in the Lamm River, which runs through other adjoining communities in the district.

The girls, who attempted to swim in the river, got drowned in the process. Officials say their lifeless bodies were later found hours later.

Ghana’s National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) confirmed the incident in a statement.

“Their bodies have been found and arrangements are on the way for burial”, NADMO said. “They were four but one of them managed to run out of the water”.

The death of Gurimpin Iwaak, Baba Kumba and Magelibe Baba have shocked residents of Kunufor.

The development comes after a woman and her granddaughter drowned in a river at Najong No. 1, a village in the Bunkrpurugu District, also in the North East Region.

The incident is said to have happened on Thursday, at about 2 p.m., after a downpour.

Regional Director of NADMO Alhassan John Kwaku said the body of both Badisomah Damyee and her granddaughter, Priscilla Badisomah have been recovered and buried.

“She [Priscilla Badisomah] went to the farm with her grandmother and on their way back, there was a heavy downpour… In their attempt to cross the river, they got drowned”, Alhassan told Citi FM.

“The grandmother’s body was retrieved yesterday in the evening and was buried. It was this morning that her granddaughter’s body was also retrieved and has since been buried,” he said.

Alhassan John Kwaku also noted that a drowning incident was recorded in the East Mamprusi municipality.

On August 23, 2021, a chief’s elder died after returning from his groundnut farm.

“On his return, a canoe [he was in] capsized, and he also died in the process,” Alhassan John Kwaku said.

Incidents of drowning are common in Northern Ghana during heavy rains and spillage of the Bagre Dam by neighbouring Burkina Faso.

SOURCE: DAILY MAIL GH