Residents of Opeikuma in the Awutu Senya East Municipality have been thrown into a state of mourning after A 19-year-old girl drowned in an abandoned pit.
According to a witness, the victim went to swim during a rainfall on Monday around 4 pm.
Unfortunately, the heavy rainwater swept her into the abandoned pit left by Atiwa Stone Quarry in 2019.
Eyewitnesses who pleaded anonymity said they informed the traditional leaders in the area about the incident, and after a search, the girl’s body was found in the pit.
The father of the deceased, Bashiru Abubakar, however, declined to speak to the media.
The residents said so far, two people have died, whilst three have been rescued from the pit since it was abandoned.
They explained that a young man from Swedru who came to work in the area also died in the pit exactly a year ago.
They further appealed to authorities to compel the company to cover the pit to avoid further deaths.
Meanwhile, the quarry company has denied any wrongdoing.
The manager for Atiwa Stone Quarry, Alphonse Mensah, said that they acquired the land, including a buffer zone, from the traditional authority.
He said that the chiefs later sold portions of the buffer zone to developers, and that had resulted in the tragedies.
Mr Mensah insisted that his outfit had issued several warnings to community members not to trespass in the area, but all had been brushed aside.
However, the chief of the area, Nana Opei Mensah, stressed that the company extended its territory beyond the demarcated boundaries.