General News of Sunday, 15 October 2023

Source: GNA

Lifeless male body discovered floating on Volta Lake at Asutuare

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A lifeless male body has been discovered floating on the Volta Lake at Asutuare in the Shai-Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region.

The deceased is believed to be one of the Chinese engaged in tilapia farming on the lake.

Jonathan Kwablah, the Assemblyman of the Asutuare Electoral Area, told the Ghana News Agency that he was alerted about the floating body and called the police.

It is believed the man went fishing on the lake or went to work on his tilapia farm and got drowned due to the heavy spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams by the Volta River Authority (VRA).

Kwablah said with the assistance of some community members, the Asutuare police were able to recover the body, which was decomposing.

A police officer also told the Ghana News Agency that the body was sent to the Akuse Government Hospital Mortuary, but the hospital rejected its preservation due to its decomposed nature.

It was, therefore, buried at the Asutuare cemetery, he said.

Kwablah said the spillage had displaced more than 500 residents of Asutuare and its environs and affected coconut plantations, with about 100 hectares of rice farms, which were almost ready for harvesting, submerged.

The VRA has started controlling spills at the Akosombo and Kpong dams in recent days due to the constant rise in water levels.

Hundreds of residents in communities along the river, including Asutuare, Akate, Ahenbrom, Meppe, and Battor are bearing the brunt of the spillage.