Boat Disaster

...4 Butchers perish

A BOAT disaster has occurred on the Afram lake at Sempoa in the Kwahu South District of the Eastern Region.

The incident which happened on April 25, claimed the lives of four butchers from Kwahu Abetifi, namely Issifu Mama, 27, Awudu Fatahu, 28, Nuhu Mama, 20, and Baba Moro, 17.

A police source told Chronicle that the victims went to the Sempoa area to purchase a cow they had already bargained for.

When they got to Sempoa, they allegedly invited a Fulani herdsman, Imoro Abdulai, to accompany them to cross the lake to the other side and help them to tie the animal.

The source said when they got to the river bank, there was nobody around but only a canoe without a paddle.

The deceased persons reportedly decided to use their bare hands to paddle the canoe to the other side.

In the course of their journey, one of them allegedly stepped on the wrong side of the canoe and it capsized, drowning all four butchers.

The Fulani herdsman, however, managed to swim ashore and informed some fishermen who were able to retrieve one of the bodies.

A search party which was jointly organised by the chief fisherman and the assembly man for Sempoa later retrieved the other three bodies.

Their bodies have been deposited at the Atibie Government Hospital for autopsy while police investigations continue.