A Minor Was Paddling Canoe That Capsized On Densu River And Drowned 9 Children: MCE Discloses

• A young boy with no experience was paddling the canoe that capsized on a river and claimed the lives of nine children
• MCE for Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly said the experienced person who is usually in charge of carrying school kids across the river had taken ill and could go to work
• A young girl who survived the incident said she held on tightly to the capsized canoe after strong winds hit

It has emerged that a minor, barely 13 years old, was the one paddling the canoe that capsized on the Densu River and resulted in the drowning of nine school kids on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.

Patrick Kumor, Chief Executive for the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly said the minor was in charge of the canoe that was carrying a total of 12 children from school because the man whose job it was had taken ill that day and could not go to work.

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"The information we picked is that the boat was overloaded with minors and the person who was paddling it was a twelve year-old-boy who had no experience and was the one controlling the canoe at the time of the incident," he told Citi News.

The minor paddling the canoe survived

An opinion leader in the community told Citi News in Ga that the boy survived the disaster because he was a good swimmer and was able to swim back to shore to inform the community about the incident.

The boat was carrying 12 pupils from school when the incident happened around 5:00 pm.

The bodies of 7 school children were first retrieved after the accident

After the incident, community members were able to retrieve the bodies of some seven school children from the Densu River.

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Rescue but further rescue efforts retrieved two more bodies.

A young girl who survived the incident said she held on tightly to the capsized canoe after strong winds hit.

She said although she held on to her little brother's hand she lost her grip on him and he also drowned.

13 dead, 11 others injured in ghastly accident on the Kumasi-Accra highway

Meanwhile, in a separate story, YEN.com.gh reported that 13 people have died and 11 more people hospitalised after a ghastly accident at Konongo.

Among the dead persons were 9 men and 4 women The accident involved an Accra-Kumasi-bound bus and a Cargo Truck.

Source: YEN.com.gh