Kukuom (B/A), June 8, GNA - Four persons sustained gun shot wounds when officials of the wildlife division in charge of Bia National Park at Adwoafua in the Western Region and some residents of the area clashed over collecting snails in the reserve.

The victims are on admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi no arrests have been made. Military and police personnel from Sefwi Wiaso have been deployed in the area to maintain law and order. Majority of the youth have fled the town leaving only women and children behind for fear of arrest.

A misunderstanding between the residents and the wildlife officials over the refusal by the latter to allow the inhabitants to enter the reserve to look for snails led to the clash. Properties including eight staff bungalows of the division and personal belongings running into millions of Ghana Cedis were destroyed by the angry youth.

The Bia National Park is an isolated forest reserve set aside in the colonial era for the conservation of animals. The youth were alleged to have also subjected the wildlife officials to severe beatings during the clash. An eye witness told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that an AK 47 rifle went off and hit the victims when some of the angry youth attempted to disarm an official of the division. An official of the division told the GNA that the action by the youth was the second of such attacks on personnel. In the first incident, he said, the youth seized an AK 47 rifle belonging to one of the game officers.