Middle age man drowned in Gurigo dam

Deceased, Adongo Awuku with blood oozing from the head

Community members performing rituals in search of the body

The lifeless body of Awuku after he was retrieved from the dam

                  

A middle age man and a native of Bongo in the Upper East Region was this afternoon found dead when he got drowned in the Gurigo dam. 

The incident which occurred yesterday evening took the rescue team, involving officials of the Bongo district NADMO office and members of the Gurigo community long hours to retrieve the body.

 The Bongo District NADMO Coordinator, Alhaji Rafui Tahiru, who was at the scene identified the deceased as Adongo Awuku, whose house was just about 500 meters away from the dam. 

Narrating the incident to Radio Ghana’s Isaac Asare, Alhaji Tahiru said the deceased was at the Balungu market with some friends, and as at 8.pm, they decided to proceed to the house since it was getting late. 

On the way, they witnessed some light flashes in the dam, exactly where his fishing net was located. He then attempted to check the net and ascertain whether someone has tampered with it. 

Upon advice by the friend to rescind his decision, he vehemently declined, went into the dam and apparently got drowned in the process.   

He said due to difficulty in retrieving the body, his men were compelled to deploy some experienced fishermen from the Vea community to complement their rescue effort. 

With their able support, they were able to retrieve the lifeless body from the dam.  Alhaji Tahiru, disclosed that those that were involved in the rescue operation were equipped with live jackets to ensure their safety. 

He added, that though the man is known to be an experienced fisherman, postmortem examination conducted on him suggests that he was highly intoxicated and could not control himself. 

In less than two weeks, the Bongo district has recorded three of such unfortunate incidence.   

Two persons got drowned in the Bongo Soe dam on St Valentine’s day celebration on February 14. 

When asked about the measures put in place by NADMO to avert such unfortunate incidents, Alhaji Tahiru said in view of the forgoing, his office has instituted a District Disaster Management Committee, DDMC, and are schedule to meet later in the day to discuss the way forward in averting future occurrences.  

 He said now that medical officers had confirmed that the deceased was intoxicated, the committee will embark on a vigorous community campaign in the district to educate the people, particularly, the youth on the dangers of alcoholic beverages. 

Meanwhile, the Bongo District Police Command led by the chief investigator, Kingsford Tetteh, had taken possession of the body and had subsequently handed it over to the deceased family for burial.