A 41-year-old lady and her three children have perished in a pit that has been dug in the Keta Lagoon in Laklevikope, close to Aflao, in the Ketu South Municipality.
The dead, Madam Yawa Apenu, fell into the hole on Saturday while purportedly out fishing with her two kids, Bridget Amewu, 14, and Daddy Amewu, 10, as well as another child who remained with the family, Sitsofe Ahiawor, 8.
The husband of the deceased woman, Mr. Atitso Amewu, was the only one of the five people who went fishing to survive.
Residents who spoke with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) expressed suspicion that Seven Seas Salt Limited, which owned concessions in the region and had an incomplete dyke, may have built the hole that took the lives of the four.
Two persons are said to have perished while trying to fish along this area of the lagoon just two months ago.
Following the first drowning occurrence in early July, Mr. Victor Ayaku, the Assembly member for the area, stated that "there is no type of protection around the dykes, no demarcation and it's almost like a death trap" to unwary locals who would wish to go fishing in the lagoon.
In response, Mr. Adams Mensah, the company's public relations officer, stated that the disaster on Saturday was not the company's fault.
According to him, the pit was a fish pond that belonged to a private individual and was not known to the Company. It was located beyond the company's concession.
He admitted that the salt mining company was prepared to assist the relatives of the deceased and expressed regret for the lives lost.
In order to prevent such preventable deaths, he emphasized the necessity for cooperation between them and stakeholders, particularly Assembly members of the communities where the Company had concessions.
Though the Company had built warning signposts, which it would begin mounting on its concessions as of Monday to keep people and fishers away from deep pit areas, Mr. Mensah said there was still a need for education for the people to use sticks to test the depth of the water while fishing to avoid unfortunate situations because there were individual fish ponds created in the lagoon.
The bodies have been placed at the morgue for preservation, according to a Police source who confirmed the occurrence, and a meeting with the deceased's family is scheduled for Sunday afternoon to aid in the investigation.
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