FIFTY bodies, including those of school children, were recovered from the Volta Lake after a boat accident which occurred near Amevloikope Island last Thursday night.

Divers rescued 34 others while a search for more bodies was underway. Among the bodies so far recovered were those of 36 pupils and students from the Jasikan District. Mr Kaizayo Yaw Awoye, the Secretary of the Tapa-Abotoase Boat Owners Association, said in an interview on Sunday that the accident was caused by overloading.

Mr Robert Mensah, the boat owner, and the operator escaped unhurt and are helping the police in their investigations.

Mr Awoye said the boat carried more than 90 bags of salt, quantities of maize, cement and sugar in addition to the passengers.

The passengers were mostly pupils and students from the Jasikan District, who were travelling from Tapa-Abotoase to Dudzoeme in the Afram Plains, to spend the holidays with their parents.

Mr Awoye said the boat carried about 90 passengers instead of 76. He said a similar accident occurred in June 1999 when 76 people drowned in the lake. The police at Tapa-Abotoase have confirmed the accident. They said policemen, who went to the accident scene, were nearly lynched by a mob protecting the boat owner.

Mr Sam Velele, the Jasikan District Chief Executive, who visited the accident scene, appealed to the Volta River Authority to procure a pontoon to transport people on the lake. Meanwhile, only two bodies have been identified while the remaining 48 have been buried in a mass grave at Amevlovikope.