Regional Report: Abandoned galamsey pit kills 16-year-old girl at Teleku-Bokazo

Correspondence from Western Region:

A sixteen-year-old girl has died at Teleku-Bokazo, a community near Nkroful, in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region after drowning in an abandoned galamsey pit.

Ernestina Yaw Agyei who died on Saturday, April 10, 2021, has since left the entire community of Teleku-Bokazo in a state of mourning.

According to a report available to GhanaWeb, the deceased left home to the outskirt of the town to have a bath in one of the abandoned pits.

Unfortunately, she started drowning and that caught the attention of other children nearby who rushed to inform some elders in the town.

However, the young girl was far dead before they could save the situation.

Assembly Member of the area, Enock Hemens Blay in an interview with GhanaWeb's Western Region Correspondent Daniel Kaku indicated that they spent over forty minutes searching for the body.

"I saw her in the morning fetching water for someone and according to my information, she was looking dirty and decided to take a bath in the pit. In the process, she started drowning. Unfortunately for her those who were around at the pit were kids and could not save her. The only intervention they made was to scream for help. They came home to inform some elders but when they arrived she had already passed", he narrated.

According to him, the late young girl is a school dropout due to financial constraints.

He added that the parents of the late Ernestina Yaw Adjei are divorced and the girl has been left in the care of her grandmother.

The body has since been deposited at the Axim Government Hospital morgue for further investigations.

The deceased is expected to be buried on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at Teleku-Bokazo.