Four, including German, drown at Mighty Beach

(The Ghanaian Times) Four people got drowned at the Mighty Beach close the Maritime Academy near Tema on Thursday. They include a German tourist, Andreas Sandam, 38, who drowned a few hours prior to his departure for his country. The rest are Aretha Bansah, 18, Paa Kwesi Ghamson, 20 and Patrick Agyekum, 19.

All four bodies have been washed ashore and are deposited at the 37 Military and the Tema General Hospitals. The bodies of Paa Kwesi Ghamson and Patrick Agyekum which are at the Tema General Hospital are nearing a state of decomposition and will likely be buried this week, after post mortem examinations.

Speaking to the “Times” in an interview at Tema, a police source said that Andreas, who lived in Germany with Aretha’s uncle, had long expressed the desire to visit Ghana. An arrangement was, therefore, made for him to visit the country and live with the Bansahs (Artha’s family) at Nungua.

The source stated that on Thursday, Andreas, after booking his flight and checking in his luggage at the airport, decided to take some pictures at the Mighty Beach. Andreas arrived at the beach at 2 pm with Aretha and her sisters, Belinda and Joyce, and set off to swim.

Barely five minutes later, Belinda and Joyce swam to the shore to pick up a camera to snap pictures. But as they were setting the camera, they heard screams behind them and turned back only to see Andreas and Aretha desperately waving their hands in air, an indication of trouble. They shouted for help but it came too late, as they could not be found. By 3 pm the body of Andreas had been washed ashore opposite the Sakumono village junction. The three other bodies were washed ashore the following day.