80,000 revellers attend vigil at Aflao beach

Aflao (V/R), April 18, GNA - An estimated crowd of 80,000 revellers besieged the beach of Aflao in a vigil to mark Easter Monday. The yearly vigil, catching on fast with people in the southern sector of the Volta Region, attracted people from as far as Sogakope, Ave-Dakpa and some towns in the Republic of Togo.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) counted over 200 cooked food, sweets and drink vendors that night.

Security personnel engaged by the owner of the "Small-Small Beach" an enclosed spot along the beach, where Top-Link Sounds, a Senya-Bereku based spinning group provided music, had hectic time in controlling the crowd, some of whom went irate sometimes.

Some of the fun seekers were said to have sustained minor injuries. A similar vigil eight years ago turned fatal when a young man was stabbed to death during a scuffle over a girl.

As some made it back on foot on Tuesday morning others from far away places, struggled to get on the few vehicles, which were plying the routes.

When the GNA went back to the beach at about 0530 hours on Tuesday a good crowd was still around, some romping in the sea, while the exhausted ones slept on the heavily littered beach of mainly, polythene wrappers.

Togolese, who came and were waiting for the borders to open at 0600 hours told the GNA that they enjoined the night.

A number of children were seen at the grounds of the vigil searching through the rubble for missing coins and one was seen picking a wristwatch.

Miss Vivian Atsu, a food vendor said she sold 100 sacks, containing 30 small sachets of water each and a good amount of cooked food, while a drink seller said she sold more drinks that night than any time in her memory.