Royal Majesty Hotel's pool swallows student
Gilbert Boyefio
04/05/2009
An inter-schools leavers' pool party for Junior High School students in Nungua organized by Red Lyon Entertainment on Saturday April 25 at the His Royal Majesty Hotel, formerly known as the Royal Ravico Hotel, went sour when a 16-year-old Junior High School leaver got drowned in the hotel's pool.
The incident occurred around 9:30pm whilst the children were having fun without any supervision, in the hotel pool. The JHS graduate, Daniel Bortey Borketey, was a student of the St Joseph Preparatory School, Nungua, and was among students who wrote the last paper of the Basic Education Certificate Examination on Friday April 24.
The deceased was said to have been first rushed to the Christian Medical Centre some few meters away from the hotel by some teenaged friends, who saw him in critical condition. Noting the gravity of his condition, the Christian Medical Centre referred the victim to the La General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead some few minutes on arriving.
Insiders alleged that this was not the first time a minor has drowned in similar circumstances in the hotel’s swimming pool. However, management of the hotel have remained tight-lipped about the incident. Attempts by The Statesman to get the hotel management to comment on the issue proved futile as on countless times, the manager and other management staff were said to be in an important meeting and refused to talk to the paper. Meanwhile, the event organizers have vanished into thin air. However, one of the sponsors of the event the paper was able to trace, Eazy Wear Boutique, Nungua, claimed they do not know the organizers of the event they sponsored.
Information gathered by The Statesman from some of the shaken and traumatized children indicates that the boy was found under the pool by one of the swimmers when his legs hit something in the water and he decided to investigate. According to them, the deceased was brought out of the pool by the swimmers unconscious. They said the discovery of the body generated commotion in the pool. Later, a search was mounted amongst them to check the identity of the deceased. Master Theodore Sarbah, one of the four minors who took the deceased to the hospital, told The Statesman that, after identifying the boy, they sent one of them to go home and inform his family about the incident, whilst they sent the deceased to the hospital. He said when they got to the La General Hospital where they were referred to, they were asked to pay ¢4.00 for documentation, which they did not have, adding that the said amount was paid by the family members when they eventually arrived before the victim was attended to by medical personnel. According to him, the medical officer on duty had previously told him that the boy had lost blood.
A shattered Helen Kailebi Borquaye, mother of the deceased, told this paper that she heard about the son’s death around 10:30pm. She said she was earlier on informed that her son had collapsed at the His Royal Majesty Hotel, but she was advised to stay in the house due to her age and health for other family members to follow up to the hospital to check on him. She said her last words with her son was when he came to take a shower and dressed up to go out. "I asked him where he was going and he told me their school is organizing a programme for all leavers. I asked him not to keep long,” she revealed amidst tears. She vehemently denied rumours that her son was drunk when he drowned. According to her, as far as she knew, the son does not take alcohol, adding: “even if he was drunk, why should the hotel management not monitor the students and allow a minor who is drunk to swim.”
Investigations by the paper revealed that the organizers and the hotel management did not make provision for any lifeguard to be stationed at the pool.
Meanwhile, a report has been made to the Kpeshie Divisional Police, Nungua, as victim’s body awaits postmortem examination at the Police Hospital, Accra. The Nungua Divisional Police confirmed the story in a telephone interview with The Statesman, saying management of the hotel was to meet with the Regional Police Commander over the incident. According to Chief Inspector Hansen, the investigator, the hotel has also been asked to produce the organizers of the event to assist in the investigations.
04/05/2009
An inter-schools leavers' pool party for Junior High School students in Nungua organized by Red Lyon Entertainment on Saturday April 25 at the His Royal Majesty Hotel, formerly known as the Royal Ravico Hotel, went sour when a 16-year-old Junior High School leaver got drowned in the hotel's pool.
The incident occurred around 9:30pm whilst the children were having fun without any supervision, in the hotel pool. The JHS graduate, Daniel Bortey Borketey, was a student of the St Joseph Preparatory School, Nungua, and was among students who wrote the last paper of the Basic Education Certificate Examination on Friday April 24.
The deceased was said to have been first rushed to the Christian Medical Centre some few meters away from the hotel by some teenaged friends, who saw him in critical condition. Noting the gravity of his condition, the Christian Medical Centre referred the victim to the La General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead some few minutes on arriving.
Insiders alleged that this was not the first time a minor has drowned in similar circumstances in the hotel’s swimming pool. However, management of the hotel have remained tight-lipped about the incident. Attempts by The Statesman to get the hotel management to comment on the issue proved futile as on countless times, the manager and other management staff were said to be in an important meeting and refused to talk to the paper. Meanwhile, the event organizers have vanished into thin air. However, one of the sponsors of the event the paper was able to trace, Eazy Wear Boutique, Nungua, claimed they do not know the organizers of the event they sponsored.
Information gathered by The Statesman from some of the shaken and traumatized children indicates that the boy was found under the pool by one of the swimmers when his legs hit something in the water and he decided to investigate. According to them, the deceased was brought out of the pool by the swimmers unconscious. They said the discovery of the body generated commotion in the pool. Later, a search was mounted amongst them to check the identity of the deceased. Master Theodore Sarbah, one of the four minors who took the deceased to the hospital, told The Statesman that, after identifying the boy, they sent one of them to go home and inform his family about the incident, whilst they sent the deceased to the hospital. He said when they got to the La General Hospital where they were referred to, they were asked to pay ¢4.00 for documentation, which they did not have, adding that the said amount was paid by the family members when they eventually arrived before the victim was attended to by medical personnel. According to him, the medical officer on duty had previously told him that the boy had lost blood.
A shattered Helen Kailebi Borquaye, mother of the deceased, told this paper that she heard about the son’s death around 10:30pm. She said she was earlier on informed that her son had collapsed at the His Royal Majesty Hotel, but she was advised to stay in the house due to her age and health for other family members to follow up to the hospital to check on him. She said her last words with her son was when he came to take a shower and dressed up to go out. "I asked him where he was going and he told me their school is organizing a programme for all leavers. I asked him not to keep long,” she revealed amidst tears. She vehemently denied rumours that her son was drunk when he drowned. According to her, as far as she knew, the son does not take alcohol, adding: “even if he was drunk, why should the hotel management not monitor the students and allow a minor who is drunk to swim.”
Investigations by the paper revealed that the organizers and the hotel management did not make provision for any lifeguard to be stationed at the pool.
Meanwhile, a report has been made to the Kpeshie Divisional Police, Nungua, as victim’s body awaits postmortem examination at the Police Hospital, Accra. The Nungua Divisional Police confirmed the story in a telephone interview with The Statesman, saying management of the hotel was to meet with the Regional Police Commander over the incident. According to Chief Inspector Hansen, the investigator, the hotel has also been asked to produce the organizers of the event to assist in the investigations.
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