Lawra: Seven students of the Lawra Senior High School (SHS) are reported to have drowned in the Black Volta River near Dikpe community in the Lawra Municipality in the early hours of Saturday, June 14, 2025. Five out of the seven bodies have been retrieved from the river, confirmed dead, and deposited at the Lawra Municipal Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

According to Ghana News Agency, Mr Abdul Latif Osman, the Upper West Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), confirmed the tragic incident and stated that the search is still underway to recover the remaining two bodies from the river. The incident occurred between 0700 and 0800 hours on Saturday when approximately 15 cadet members of the school were conducting their ritual jogging to the Black Volta River with the intention of crossing to the Burkina Faso side of the river.

Reports indicate that it is a customary activity for the cadet members of the school to cross the Black Volta River and return. However, this time they opted for a different route for their exercise. Upon reaching the river site, they spotted a young man of Burkinabe descent with a canoe at the Burkina Faso side of the river and requested him to transport them across the river.

Mr Latif explained that 10 students out of the 15 boarded the canoe, which, including the operator, made eleven people onboard, although the canoe was designed to carry fewer than ten people. During the journey, the canoe capsized, and all 11 individuals fell into the river. Three students, two females, and a male, along with the operator, managed to swim ashore, while the seven others remained unaccounted for. The incident was reported to the Dikpe community elders.

The NADMO Director reported that the community elders performed some rituals before initiating the search for those missing in the water. The search commenced between 1000 and 1100 hours, and within an hour, the five bodies were recovered. Meanwhile, Mr Latif informed GNA that the canoe had also been retrieved, but the operator had escaped.

The Upper West Regional and Lawra Municipal Directors of Education, members of the Lawra District Security Committee (DISEC), and management of the Lawra SHS were present at the accident scene. A similar incident occurred in 2008 when a student of the Lawra SHS drowned in the Black Volta River during an excursion by the Geography Club of the school.