SIX JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES DROWN AFTER ASSISTING WITH CHURCH PROJECT
Six
persons including a woman, Mrs. Bernice Wireko, have drowned in River Ankonim
at Adagya in the Bosomtwe district of the Ashanti region. The deceased were all
in a Hyundai Avante salon car when the vehicle was swept away by the river
which had burst its bank following few hours of a downpour. Local divers helped
to retrieve bodies of five of the occupants at about 2 am today while the
remaining person, George Oppong Wireko, said to be in his early 50s,
was found
at exactly eight this morning after frantic search by the local divers. All the
deceased have been confirmed to be members of the Adagya Congregation of the
Jehova’s Witnesses. They got drowned about 50 metres away from the site where
the Congregation is constructing their Kingdom Hall after the day’s work.
The
victims are George Oppong Wireko, Mrs. Bernice Wireko and Offei Wireko. The
rest are Justice Owusu Ansah, Christopher Asare and Akwasi Baah. An eye
witness, Scientific Osei Yaw, told Ashanti Today that the incident happened at about 7 pm
yesterday, Thursday Sept, 6, during a down pour. According to him, the vehicle was swept away by
the heavily flooded river but no one could help the situation due to the state
of the River and the narrow bridge at the time. "When the
Police and NADMO officials came in, they could also not help save the people becuase the vehicle had already been submerged in the water", Mr. Osei Yaw said.
A resident of the area,
Reverend Yaw Agyemang Badu, popularly known as REV YABS, a gospel musician, complained about the fact that, the concrete bridge over
the River had been damaged for about four months but appeals to the local Assembly
had not received any positive response. He appealed to the Bosomtwe District
Assembly to give priority attention to maintenance of not only the bridge, by
the road which is in a very bad condition.
The Bosomtwe District Chief
Executive, Joseph Asuming, confirmed that the problem had come to the attention of the
Assembly. "We have informed our MP, Dr. Osei Yaw
Adutwum about it. The Department of Feeder Roads has also assured of replacing the
narrow concrete bridge with a steel one but not until the rains stop", The DCE stressed.
Meanwhile,
all the six bodies have been deposited at the Saint Michael’s Hospital morgue
at Pramso in the same district while the wreckage of the vehicle was yet to be
retrieved from the river at the time Ashanti Today was leaving the scene.
Comments
Post a Comment