Three teenagers drowned in a swimming pool and a stagnant pool in two separate occurrences.
Last Saturday, two incidents happened in the Greater Accra Region at New Aplaku in the Ga South municipality and Asarekrom in the Gomoa East District of the Central Region.
Oliver Ayertei Tetteh, 17, a second-year student at St John’s Grammar School in Accra, and Christabel Agyekumwaa, 17, a second-year student at the Methodist SHS in Saltpond in the Central Region, died in a swimming pool at the Lion of Judah Foods and Events Centre in Aplaku.
Patrick Nyarko, 17, a final-year student at Opeikuma D/A Junior High School (JHS), was discovered dead in a stagnant pool at an abandoned quarry site in Asarekrom.
Friends
Oliver’s uncle, Fred Tetteh, told the Daily Graphic that his nephew and Christabel were classmates from junior high.
He stated that last Saturday, Oliver informed his father that he was having problems with his phone and wanted to travel to Kasoa to get it repaired.
According to him, his nephew went to Christabel’s residence first and requested her to join him to Kasoa to fix his phone.
Mr Tetteh stated that about 3 p.m. on that tragic day, when Oliver had not come home, his father contacted the boy’s phone numerous times but received no response, despite the fact that it was ringing.
“My brother then said his son might be in a noisy environment, but 30 minutes later, Christabel’s grandfather, Williams Amoah, called my brother to tell him that his granddaughter had told him that he was going out with Oliver but attempts to reach her on phone had proved futile,” he said.
Apprehension
When Mr Tetteh’s brother told Mr Amoah that he, too, had been contacting his son without success, they agreed that the children may be in an area where music was being played.
They grew concerned at 4:30 p.m., according to Mr Tetteh, and proceeded to the SCC Police Station to report the incident.
He claimed that the police took their phone numbers and promised to contact them if they found out where the two teenagers were.
He claimed that about 6:30 p.m., the police phoned Christabel’s grandfather and requested him to contact Oliver’s father in order for them to go to the police station to verify information on two teens that the police had.
“When they got to the police station, the commander told them that a certain woman had called the police to inform them that some children had come to her place to swim but had drowned.
“Immediately the commander showed them the pictures of the deceased, my brother and Mr Amoah confirmed that they were the ones being looked for,” he said.
According to Mr Tetteh, the woman informed the police that the children went to the facility to swim for a fee, but she told them that the person in charge of the pool had travelled and that they should wait for her to bring them some life jackets before entering the pool.
He claims that the lady told authorities that when she returned with the jackets, the two had drowned.
“This is the explanation the woman gave to the police,” he said.
Foul play
Mr Tetteh stated that the family suspected foul play and sought extensive inquiries into the case since Oliver and Christabel could not have drowned in the minute or so she walked to pick up the jackets because the distance from the pool to where she was heading was relatively short.
According to the photos, Oliver was dressed in a singlet and boxer shorts, while Christabel was dressed in a dress, shoes, and a wristwatch.
He stated that the family had yet to meet the lady who owned and ran the institution, despite police reports that she had been jailed.
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Mr Amoah also demanded further inquiries into the situation when Christabel informed him that she and Oliver were planning to visit their former school.
Distraught mother
Christabel’s mother, Josephine Amoah, told journalists that her daughter had left home at 9 a.m. when Oliver, a family friend, requested her to accompany him to Kasoa to fix his phone.
However, she said that the two did not return, leaving her father to inform her of their deaths later that night.
Heartbroken
In the other drowning case, Nyarko’s father, Kwaku Owusu, expressed his heartbreak at his son’s death.
He stated that his son, whose body was recovered from the stagnant pool last Sunday afternoon, resided with his mother in Opeikuma and that he had no idea how the tragedy occurred.
Attempts by the Daily Graphic to obtain a response from the police on the occurrences were futile.
SOURCE: GRAPHIC ONLINE
