The Koforidua Effiduase District Police Command is investigating the deaths of three technicians who suffocated in a reservoir at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) office in Koforidua in the Eastern region on Monday.
The three, identified as Mr. Ashie, Octopus, and Jonathan, were among five technical experts hired by the PBC workshop to maintain the fuel reservoir at the COCOBOD office.
It is unclear how the incident occurred, but two workers in an attempt to rescue one of the workers who entered the reservoir and suffocated also suffocated to death while trying to rescue their colleague.
Two witnesses, who were colleagues of the victims and present at the scene, reported the incident to the authorities.
A response team comprising officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Municipal Secretariat, Effiduase Police Command, Ghana Ambulance Service, and Ghana National Fire Service arrived at the scene to help extricate the bodies of the victims from the underground tank.
The Deputy Municipal Director of NADMO for New Juaben North, Kankam Twumasi Daniel, confirmed the incident to Citi News and said that the police have begun their investigation.
He added that the bodies have been taken to the St. Joseph’s Hospital Mortuary in Effiduase for preservation and autopsy.
“Around 11 o’clock, NADMO received a call about an incident at PBC yard. So we had to rush there. When we got there, per our investigations, five gentlemen were contracted by the management of the facility to do some maintenance work on their reservoir tank containing fuel and unfortunately, three of them had drowned.”
“So we had to call other departments, thus the Ghana Fire Service, Ghana Police Service, and Ambulance Service so that we could extricate the bodies from the tank.”