Tragedy at Sunyani outer ring road: 15-year-old boy drowns in stagnant pool at construction site

A 15-year-old boy, Mattew Mahama, has drowned in a pool of stagnant water at Atwimaminaso, near Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality of the Bono Region, sparking renewed concern over safety at road construction sites.

The tragic incident occurred at a section of the Sunyani outer ring road currently under construction, a few metres from where the highway intersects the Fiapre–Catholic University road.

According to reports, Mattew and several of his schoolmates went swimming in a pool of water that had collected at the base of a culvert after school on Wednesday, 4 February.

By the time Asaase News arrived at the scene, grief-stricken relatives and residents had gathered, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service to retrieve the boy’s body.

An uncle of the deceased, Kofi Mahama, recounted that the family became alarmed later that evening when the headmaster of Mattew’s school called to inquire about his whereabouts after hearing troubling reports.

“I rushed to the scene and later went to the Odumase Police Station, where I met some of the boys who were with him,” Mr Mahama said. “They told the police they had gone there to swim, and that Mattew drowned.”

He explained that the boys raised an alarm in the Atwimaminaso community, but efforts to save the teenager proved unsuccessful. The incident was subsequently reported to the Odumase Police, who visited the site for one of the boys to identify the exact location where Mattew drowned.

“We were asked to return this morning for the recovery of the body, but we have been waiting for some time,” Mr Mahama added, reflecting the family’s anguish.

The Sunyani outer ring road project is being executed by Kofi Job Company Limited. The project administrator, Kwabena Agyei Arhin, said construction activities had been suspended for two days due to heavy rainfall, which left the site muddy and caused pools of water to form.

Arhin said the company received information about the incident between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm on Wednesday and immediately dispatched officials to the site before proceeding to the police station.

“Although we had organised equipment and personnel to support the recovery, we were advised by the police to wait until the following day,” he said, expressing concern about what he described as gaps in the emergency response system and the need for improvement.

Later on Thursday morning, officials from Kofi Job Company Limited, the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service, the Department of Urban Roads and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) converged on the site to commence recovery operations.

Using excavators, a trench was dug to drain the water from the pool. As the water level receded, personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service entered the area and successfully retrieved the body, bringing a sombre end to a tragedy that has left the Atwimaminaso and Fiapre communities in mourning.

Reporting Daniel Donkor for Asaase News in the Bono Region