March 7, 2021, will perhaps be the most memorable and horrid day yet in the lives of two teenage boys at Apam in the Gomoa West constituency of the Central Region.
What started as a regular fun-packed, “Sunday Special” ended up being a black Sunday, for Simon Dadzie, Godfred Apretse and twelve other children who had converged at the Apam beach.
Recounting events of the day in separate exclusive interviews to GhanaWeb, the two boys asserted that they had only gone to the beach to play football with friends from the neighbourhood as well as classmates.
15-year-old Simon, a form two student at the Apam Presbyterian School noted that, on that fateful day, he joined six other friends to the beach to go and play football but resorted to bathing in the sea to cool off once they were done.
He furthered that he was rescued by two people he didn’t know after four others he was with suddenly disappeared in the water. He was brought to the shore after he nearly drowned and sent to the hospital.
“…I was the only one left in the water after a while, my friends (about four of them) who were around me had drowned and I was tired from struggling to keep afloat... suddenly some two guys took hold of me and pulled me out after I began to sink - they took me to the shore and I was rushed to the hospital,” Simon told GhanaWeb.
A visibly shaken Godfred Apretse still haunted by the events from Sunday, said he had no memories from the day.
He had also joined some classmates to play football at the shore and swam afterwards.
According to the 14-year-old class six pupil, he just recalled seeing a large wave hit him. Next thing he knew he was waking up in a hospital.
The township of Apam and neighbouring areas have been thrown into a state of mourning after some of their children numbering over 13, reportedly went missing after they had gone swimming on Sunday, March 7, many of them drowning.
Confirming the incident and detailing the numbers as far as deceased persons and survivors are concerned, the spokesperson of the Apam Fishermen Association, Kow Panyin, told GhanaWeb that 11 of the teenagers who drowned have been identified.
Of the deceased persons, 2 were females and 10 of them males.
Gilbert Assandoh, Isaac Affisah, Adwoa Vi, Joshua Hammond, Prince Peprah, John Arthur, Christopher Ewusi, Ebenezer Forson, Benjamin Narh, Kweku Atta, King Beri Addison, and one other girl (unidentified), who had come to visit her friend were named as the deceased persons.
9 of these teenagers between the ages of 13 and 16 are from the Apam Community, 2 are from Ankamu (Apam Junction) and 1 girl from Cape Coast.
Investigations are still ongoing, but the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, meanwhile has extended financial support to the families of these victims, following the incident.
Watch them narrate their ordeal below:
