School Kid Dies In Bucket

A one-and-a-half year-old pupil has been found dead in a school bucket placed in a classroom at Akweteyman in Accra.

The bizarre incident happened at Child Care International Day Care Centre, situated on the premises of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Akweteyman South Living-Waters, where the deceased, Andy Akom, was schooling. He was in the school with two of his siblings.

The body of Andy was found by one of the pupils who had gone to drink water from the bucket.

Residents called on the Ghana Education Service to close down the school, since it was one of the schools mostly attended by children in the community.

The Tesano District Police had launched investigations into the death of the boy.

Narrating the incident to DAILY GUIDE, the Tesano District Police Crime Officer, ASP George Asare, said the incident happened on Wednesday March 21, 2012 around 2:20pm.

According to the class teacher, Cynthia Tetteh, she left the pupils in the care of her junior brother Kofi Yeboah, to attend nature’s call.

“When I left, my brother was separating some of the pupils who were engaged in a fight, so he did not pay attention to the other pupils in the class,” she said.

One of the pupils who had gone to fetch water to drink, saw the child and consequently told Kofi Yeboah that Andy had fallen into the bucket.

Kofi told the police that when he drew closer to the bucket, the deceased’s head was submerged in the water.

The crime officer expressed dismay at the whole revelation, stating that only an autopsy report could prove the class teacher’s statement since the water in the bucket in which the child was alleged to have drowned was not up to two gallons.

Little Andy Akom was rushed to the Achimota Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

The Crime Officer said Madam Rebecca Tetteh, proprietress of the school, Cynthia Tetteh and Kofi Yeboah were all arrested by the police for questioning, but were given police enquiry bail.

Meanwhile, mother of the deceased, Abayaba Alikbachivie, a groundnut seller, is crying foul over the death of her child.

She told DAILY GUIDE that it was very difficult to believe that the child, whom she described as “very aggressive”, could fall in less than two gallons of water and drown.

She noted that when the child died, neither the teacher nor the proprietress walked to her house to officially inform her that the boy whom she personally sent to school that morning had died.

“My child was very well and good looking when I held his hand and escorted him to school,” she said in tears.

She maintained that “it is really hard to believe that the child has died just like that”.

Information gathered at the school indicated that 20 children were packed in one classroom with a teacher.

DAILY GUIDE also learnt that the proprietress had no permit to run the school, and that she was only given the premises by the Presbyterian Church of which she was a member, to run her school.