Two Boys drowned in an open culvert at Olebu

Story: Mary Mensah
Tragedy struck two families at Olebu near Ablekuma in the Ga Central District of the Greater Accra Region, when two boys were drowned in open culvert in the area.
The bodies of Emmanuel Yankson, alias Junior, aged eight, a class-three pupil of the Thy Mercy International School at Ablekuma New Town and Alhaji Ibrahim aged 10, were found floating at the construction site.
The culvert was dug  by the Chinese company constructing the new Awoshie to Pokuase road and had been there for several months now and despite pleas from members of the community to the company to cover it, the company ignored the plea until the tragedy last Sunday.
According to the father of Junior,  Mr Kwesi Yankson, in the morning, the deceased and his two siblings accompanied their mother to church at about 9 am and on their return he was later spotted playing with Alhaji.
He said young Alhaji was very popular with both kids and adults as he was always seen collecting scraps for sale.
He said when his son did not return home he and his wife, Comfort Asante, started looking for him as it was getting late.
Mr Blankson said he and his wife combed the whole area to no avail and later went to Alhaji’s mother who assured them not to panic because the two boys will return home.
He said this was around 11pm, but unknown to them, the two boys had drowned at about 5 pm and their bodies had already been conveyed by the police to the hospital.
The father said it was early yesterday morning while looking for the boys that they heard that two boys had drowned at Olebbu and armed with this information they rushed to the police station to lodge a complaint. It was there that the police confirmed the incident and took them to the hospital to identify the bodies.
The bodies are awaiting autopsy.
According to some residents, the open drain of about 12-feet attracts dozens of kids who come there to swim.
An official of the construction firm said the culvert was created as part of works being done on that stretch of the road.and could not be covered as construction work was still ongoing.
 This latest incident adds up to a growing list of tragedies recorded at construction sites due to open drains.