About 120 feared dead in Ghana boat capsize

About 120 people were feared drowned after a boat packed with passengers and goods capsized on Ghana's Lake Volta, one of the world's largest reservoirs, police in the West African country said yesterday. "There were 150 passengers on board but only 30...

About 120 people were feared drowned after a boat packed with passengers and goods capsized on Ghana's Lake Volta, one of the world's largest reservoirs, police in the West African country said yesterday.

"There were 150 passengers on board but only 30 have been rescued. The rest are feared dead," police spokesman Kwesi Ofori said. He said the accident happened on Saturday and a search party was still looking for survivors.

"Police, fishermen and the fire service are involved in the search," he said.

Mr Ofori said the boat was probably overloaded. He said it hit a stump as it travelled across the lake, which covers 8,500 square kilometres, more than three times the size of Luxembourg.

He said the boat had been travelling from Dudzome, in the Afram Plains region, to Abotoase further east. The bodies of three young children had been recovered from the accident site.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.