A tragic incident struck Ada Senior High School (SHS) after a group of students were sacked for sneaking off campus to swim in a nearby water body, resulting in the drowning of one student.
Following the incident, school authorities have dismissed 20 students who were involved in the unauthorized outing.
According to officials, the Ada SHS students were sacked after they left campus without permission and headed to what is believed to be the Volta River for recreational swimming.
A video circulating on social media shows the students paraded in front of the school and formally dismissed by the headmistress, Ms. Adelaide Kiki Ocansey.
The identity of the deceased student has not yet been disclosed, but school sources confirm he was a final-year student.
In response to the tragedy, the headmistress convened a disciplinary meeting and announced the dismissal of the 20 students for violating school regulations and endangering lives.
The school emphasised the importance of strict adherence to rules to prevent similar incidents in the future.
20 students were dismissed by the authorities of ADASCO after sneaking out to swim in a river nearby, resulting in the drowning of one student. pic.twitter.com/BlwQLwTHrQ
— BIG KAY🇬🇭 (@OfficialBigkay) June 21, 2025
In a separate but equally devastating event, seven students from Lawra Senior High School reportedly drowned in the Black Volta River near the Dikpe community in the Lawra Municipality on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
Five of the seven bodies have been recovered and confirmed dead. They have been deposited at the Lawra Municipal Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.
Abdul Latif Osman, the Upper West Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), reported that the incident occurred between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. during a routine jogging session by about 15 cadet members of the school.
It is believed the cadet group had a tradition of crossing the Black Volta River as part of their exercise ritual. However, this time, they used a different route.
According to Osman, the group spotted a young man of Burkinabe descent with a canoe on the opposite side of the river and called on him to ferry them across. Ten of the students, along with the canoe operator, boarded the vessel—despite it being designed to carry fewer than ten people.
Tragically, the overloaded canoe capsized mid-journey, sending all eleven individuals into the river.
