All seven bodies of the Lawra Senior High School students who drowned in the Black Volta River have been retrieved, Joy News reports.

According to Rafiq Salam, the Upper West Regional correspondent for the news outlet, the bodies were recovered by local divers.

Following the retrieval, the families of all seven students gathered at the forecourt of the Lawra Municipal Hospital morgue to mourn their loved ones.

An uncle and a teacher of one of the victims, a second-year General Arts student, have demanded answers from authorities, questioning why the students were allowed to embark on the boat ride.

“Joyce Kaate is my niece, and her mother passed away five years ago. I have been her guardian ever since. Sadly, I received a call yesterday about this tragic incident. I arrived at the school only to learn that the incident occurred outside school premises. How they ended up at the riverside is something I cannot understand, and I need answers,” Joy News quoted Augustine Liabo, her uncle, as saying.

Background

A tragic incident claimed the lives of seven students from Lawra Senior High School after their canoe capsized in the Black Volta River near Dikpe in the Upper West Region on the morning of Saturday, June 14, 2025.

The students, part of a group of ten from the school's cadet corps, were reportedly on a routine morning jogging exercise when they attempted to cross the river into Burkina Faso.

Midway through the journey, the canoe overturned, throwing all the students into the river. While three managed to swim to safety, the remaining seven went missing.

Local authorities, including the Ghana Education Service, the Lawra Municipal Assembly, and the Municipal Security Council, swiftly launched a search and rescue operation.

VKB/MA

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