SAD: Oti Landfill Swallows Boy

The usual search for scrap by some young boys at the Oti Landfill Site near Kumasi, suddenly turned disastrous when one of the boys fell into a pit and died.

Fourteen-year-old Joseph Annan Junior, reportedly, sunk deep into the garbage, which had piled up, after he accidentally stepped into the deep pit.

Annan’s friends mustered courage as they managed to rescue him from the pit and rushed him to the hospital for treatment, but he was declared dead on arrival.

The heartbreaking and unfortunate incident, according to a police report from the Asokwa District, in the Ashanti Region, happened around 5pm on April 30, 2023.

According to the police, Joseph Annan, father of the deceased and Foster Yeboah, Deputy Manager of Oti Landfill Site, both reported the case to the police.

“On 30/04/2023 at 1830 hrs Joseph Annan of Atonsu Kuwait-Kumasi accompanied by Foster Yeboah Deputy Manager of Oti Landfill Site reported to Dompoase Police that, on 30/04/2023 about 1700 hrs his 14-year-old son, Joseph Annan Junior, now deceased and his friends went to Oti Landfill Site to search for scrap.

“The deceased fell into a pit in the process of searching for scrap. He was rescued and rushed to Kumasi South Hospital for medical attention but was pronounced dead on arrival,” a police report said.

The statement said the police visited the hospital and saw the dead body of the deceased, adding that the body was photographed and “Apart from old wounds on both legs, no marks of external injuries were found.”

According to the police, the lifeless body has been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) mortuary in Kumasi, pending autopsy.