One body retrieved after Volta Lake boat disaster claims many lives

The body of one of at least a dozen people feared dead in a boat disaster on the Volta Lake – in the Afram Plains area of the Eastern Region – has been retrieved.

The fatal incident occurred last Thursday, May 28, 2020 when the boat, which was carrying an unspecified number of persons, capsized.

The death toll has been estimated to be about 20, according to state-owned newspaper, Daily Graphic.

“Rescuers, mainly the locals, worked frantically to rescue 17 persons. As of press time yesterday [Friday, May 29, 2020], one body had been recovered and emergency teams, including local divers, were continuing the search for nine others,” Daily Graphic reports Saturday.

According to the report, the body of 60-year-old Adjoa Alihele has since been deposited at the Presbyterian Hospital morgue at Donkorkrom.

The boat was carrying mostly traders from Dzemeni in the Volta Region to Donkorkrom in the Afram Plains area of the Eastern Region when it capsized midway through the journey near Anivizi, a village along the Volta Lake.

“Overcrowding and poor safety checks have often been the cause of boat accidents on the lake,” the report said.

The Volta Lake is notorious for fatal boat accidents.