16-year-old boat rider at the centre of Weija boat accident flees community amidst insults, accusations

Augustine Atsu, the 16-year-old boy who paddled the canoe that capsized and killed nine pupils at Fanaa in the Ga South Municipality has hurriedly left the community due to attacks from families of the deceased.

Augustine Atsu who has fled to the Volta Region with his family said that the residents of Fanaa accused him of killing their children, hence he had to run away to save his life from abuse.

Speaking in an interview with a TV3's Joseph Armstrong, Agustine added that the accusations and insults from the residents really hurt him.

He also added that he has dropped out of school due to financial difficulties.

“We had to leave the community because the residents keep accusing and insulting my family for killing their children. It hurts a lot when they pass those comments,” Augustine said.

Augustine, however, added that he is willing to go back to school should he receive financial assistance.

“I want to go back to school but don’t have any help,” he added.

Background

Nine pupils were reported to have died by drowning on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, after they were ferrying from the Fanaa community to Kelee after school.

According to an only survivor, Enyonam Ekpe’s account, Augustine Atsu asked them to join his boat while they had challenges in getting one.

She added that when she joined her colleagues, she informed the boat rider he had over-packed them and suggested he takes some of them first and return for the rest but he refused.

She said while they were on the river, the boat subsided killing her colleagues and her kid brother.

“The accident occurred at 5:40 p.m. Yesterday when we were coming home, we didn’t get a boat to pick us but fortunately, we found a young boy on one and told him to pick us up. When he picked us up, I told him we were many on the boat and suggested that he drops some of us and take a fewer number.

“When I told him, he ignored me and said the boat would go. Just when we were going the boat turned and my kid brother fell and went missing but I held on to the boat until a man came to assist me,” she recounted.

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