What should have passed for a normal fishing expedition on the Ankobra River in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region turned tragic when a 70-year-old fisherman got drowned in the river.

According to reports, the canoe in which he was working capsized.

The lifeless body of the 70-year-old fisherman, Nana Eduku Tanoe was retrieved from the river by a search party three days after the incident and has since been buried.

A grandson of the deceased, Patrick Assuah, who confirmed the sad story to DAILY GUIDE, indicated that his grandfather had been in the trade all his life.

He noted that on Monday at about 9am, the deceased, who was also the head of the Azohile Family at Saloma in the Ellembelle District, went fishing in a canoe and decided to inspect a lobster pot he had placed on the Ankobra River to catch some lobsters.

According to the grandson, while in the canoe, the deceased saw some farmers who were on their way to their farms and had a chat with some of them.

Patrick Assuah pointed out that in the evening when the farmers were returning home, they saw the deceased’s canoe and a sack full of lobsters, as well as the paddle of the canoe floating on the river but did not see the 70-year-old fisherman.

The farmers then took the sack and reported the matter to the deceased’s family.

“According to the beliefs in the area, when something of this nature happens, it means the fisherman has drowned in the river, he added.

He said a search party was quickly formed to look for the body of the fisherman.

Mr Assuah indicated that while some of members of the search party went into the river, others combed the near-by bush.

The young man pointed out that the search party combed the areas for the old man on Monday night, but to no avail.

He added that the next day, the search party continued to search for the fisherman and a report was also made to the Police in Esiama.

“On Wednesday, some of the youth in the area joined the search party and went into the river for a thorough search and fortunately for the family members, the body of the fisherman was found,” he stressed.