The Kintampo waterfalls accident in the Brong Ahafo Region appears to be the most tragic in the country since the dawn of year 2017. The accident which took place late Sunday afternoon [19th March] at about 4:30 pm has left a lot of young lives cuts short and many hearts broken.
Reports reveal that before the Kintampo waterfalls accident struck, a strong wind visited the nature site, pulling down one of the gigantic trees adorning the hills of the beautiful waterfall. And as fate would have it, it was not like other ordinary days when only a few people would have been in the river.
Tragedy had its way as scores of students, reportedly from the Wenchi Methodist High School and a few others from the University of Energy and Natural Resources, were at the waterfall on an excursion. Together with other people at the site, they reveled in the cool falling waters, not knowing that that will be the end! The hefty tree landed right on top of majority of those swimming in the waters, trapping them beneath its heavy trunk and branches.
The Ghana National Fire Service and the Ghana Police Service on getting the news of the tragic incident rushed to the waterfall on a rescue mission. Chainsaw machines were used to cut the tree in pieces to drag out both the dead and the injured.
Meanwhile, some sources say it is just one big tree that fell, but others say they were more than one.
So far, 18 dead bodies have been retrieved from the Kintampo waterfalls accident. Other injured people numbering about 22 have been admitted at the Kintampo Municipal Hospital for treatment while the dead were deposited at the hospital morgue.
According to the Fire Service spokesman, Mr Anaglate, 18 of the students died on the spot, while two others died at hospital. He also disclosed that one of the school administrators in charge of the excursion trip are among survivors who are receiving treatments at the hospital.
The Kintampo Waterfalls, which was referred to as Sanders Falls during the colonial era, is the highest waterfall in Ghana. It is located on the Pumpum river, a tributary of the Black Volta, about 4km north of Kintampo municipality along the Kumasi-Tamale highway in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana.
The beautiful falls are hidden away in the woods close to Kumasi/Kintampo highway. It has been one of the most visited tourist attractions in Ghana over the years, attracting tons of visitors from both within and outside the country.
We can recall that one of the worst accidents that took place last year involving an MMT bus and a truck also happened around the Kintampo waterfall area. The accident which occurred on 17th February, 2016 claimed over 60 lives, with many others injured.
It is high time Ghana woke up to do something about forestalling some of these accidents which are obviously preventable, as the rest of the world is beginning to mark the country as a place where careless accidents are the order of the day.
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