Fallen Tree Kills GHANASS Student

Edmund Amoako, 16-year-old first-year student of the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASS) in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital, who was killed by a falling tree on the school’s campus, is expected to be buried on Saturday.

Edmund Amoako, aka Nana Yaw, was confirmed dead upon arrival at the Saint Joseph Orthopaedic Hospital at Koforidua, and the body has since been deposited at the morgue.

The first-year General Arts student of the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASS) Koforidua died while Ntiamoah Oliver, Monieson Alfred, Nii Larye Enock, Bernard Sheriff and Amofa Kofi Emmanuel, all second-year students of the school, sustained injuries and were also rushed to the hospital for treatment. Three of them were later treated and discharged.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that the students got trapped when the tree on the compound suddenly fell on them.

Edmund suffered severe head injuries and died few hours at the hospital.

The funeral arrangement was announced after a meeting held on Monday in the school between management of GHANASS and family of the deceased.

The family was led to the morgue to identify their son and conducted round the incident scene.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that the incident occurred at about 9:30 pm when a senior student sent the deceased and the others to buy sachet water and other items after they had closed from prep.

According to sources, Amoako could not run quickly when the tree was falling.

One of the victims, who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “My friends and I had gone to buy bread and mashed kenkey, after we had closed from prep, and on our way back we heard a vibrating sound like an earthquake, so we got frightened and decided to run.”

“While we were running, I fell and some of the tree branches hit me on the chest. My friends were also hit.”

The Koforidua-Effiduase District Police Commander, Daniel Yaro, who confirmed the incident, said investigations were ongoing to unravel circumstances surrounding the incident.

Headmaster of the school, Very Rev. Abraham Donkor, in an interview, said the family of the deceased is expected to convey the body to Accra for burial rites on Saturday.