Two siblings have drowned in the Kpong Irrigation Canal at Asutsuare in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region.

The two drowned following an attempt by the boy- Obed who is seven years old, to rescue his nine-year-old sister, Yamo.

The unfortunate incident occurred when the children went to the canal to fetch water, Superintendent Asare Nyarko of the Akuse Police Command has confirmed.

Superintendent Asare Nyarko disclosed that the police was informed of the incident by one Akpafo Philip, a NADMO official in Asutsuare on Monday afternoon after the disappearance of the two children.

“Our outfit received information about the incident and proceeded to the scene where we discovered that one of the children had drowned while his brother was still alive. Unfortunately, he also died on the way to the Akuse Hospital,” he recounted.

He added that the bodies of the children will remain in the morgue pending autopsy.

The police is currently ruling out foul play while they look into the incident.

An eyewitnesses said, “The boy and his sister went to the canal to fetch water and in the process the girl’s bucket fell into the water. She stretched to get the bucket but in the process fell into the water.”

Medical Superintendent of the Akuse Government Hospital, Dr. Ahmed Suleimana Tijani who confirmed the incident said the bodies of the deceased children were brought to the facility by men from the Akuse Police Command.

“Police from Akuse together with three men came with a referral letter from the Osudoku Health Center indicating that the children were brought to them after drowning in the canal,” Dr Tijani said.

The deceased, according to the Medical Superintendent, are being kept at the morgue of the Akuse Government Hospital pending “a police directive.”

“The next step lies in the hands of the police to determine if there was any foul play. If the police think that there is something fishy that would necessitate the bodies being referred for postmortem, they take that decision,” Dr Tijani averred.

Superintendent Asare Nyarko cautioned parents against sending children to the canal for such purposes to avoid the risk of drowning.