11-Year-Old Boy Drowns in River Owabi at Akropong in Ashanti Region

• An 11-year-old boy drowned in River Owabi at Akropong in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District of the Ashanti Region on Monday, October 5, 2026
• The boy was one of three who got into difficulty while swimming, though two others were pulled to safety by residents who rushed to the scene
• Traditional rituals were performed before a search team finally located the boy's body on Tuesday, October 6, 2026

An 11-year-old boy lost his life after drowning in River Owabi at Akropong in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District of the Ashanti Region on Monday, October 5, 2026.

The boy was among seven children who went to swim in the river that afternoon.

Three of them got into serious difficulty in the water, prompting nearby residents to rush to the scene.

Two of the boys were pulled out alive, but the third could not be reached in time and disappeared beneath the surface.

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Search operation leads to discovery of body

Traditional authorities and security personnel were alerted on Monday and immediately headed to the river, but their efforts to locate the missing boy that evening proved fruitless.

Andrews Kofi Nti, the Assembly Member for the area, described how the search unfolded.

"After learning of the incident, traditional authorities in the community, together with security officials, went there, but we could not locate him on Monday," he said.

The team returned the following morning, this time carrying out traditional rituals at the riverbank before resuming the search. The approach proved decisive.

"Later on Tuesday, we went back and performed the necessary rituals before locating the body," Nti added.

The police subsequently released the boy's body to his family for burial.

The tragedy has left the Akropong community in shock and reignited long-standing concerns about children accessing the river without adult supervision.

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Residents have been particularly alarmed because this is not an isolated incident; around the same period last year, children drowned in the Owabi River in another nearby community.

The repeated loss of young lives in the same waterway has intensified calls for greater vigilance and measures to keep children away from the river, especially during unsupervised outings.

Six nearly drown in River Samre

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that six Ghanaians narrowly escaped death after a boat accident occurred on River Samre in the Western Region of Ghana last week.

A video showed a green canoe capsizing, leaving those on board struggling to stay afloat.

The incident caused a scare, leaving some bystanders watching in dismay and others recording the proceedings before responders swooped in and rescued all six victims in time.

Source: YEN.com.gh