Boy Dies In Pit-Latrine

A pit, which was supposed to be used as a pit-latrine but has been left open for well over five years, claimed the life of a three year-old boy at Ashaiman Newtown Tuesday morning. The little boy, Ransford Koranteng, a pupil of the Starlight School in Ashaiman, is believed to have fallen into the pit which is located right in front the house he and his parents live in when he went playing around his home on the morning of his death. His parents live in the house as tenants. According to the deceased's mother, Abena, the incident occurred whiles she was away, explaining that Ransford was with his elder brother and sister when she left to go and buy soap to do some laundry. On her return, she did not see her son but assumed that he might have gone out to either his father's barbering shop or to play with his friends since he had not gone to school that morning. "It was after a while that I noticed his slippers were at our entrance next to the pit-latrine, compelling me to go round to look for him. I looked everywhere that I knew I could find him and when I did not see him I came back to the spot to take a closer look at the place, after which I realized that the small plywood which was earlier used to partly cover the pit had fallen inside, raising my fears that my son could have fallen into the pit," Abena remarked amidst sobs. Her fears became a reality as she found her son in the pit. She quickly called her husband, who rushed to the scene with some friends of his, retrieved little Ransford from the pit and rushed him to the hospital. Ten-years-old Michael Koranteng, the deceased's elder brother, narrated that his younger brother had just returned from their father's shop when their mother left to buy the soap, adding that moments later, Ransford stepped out of the room, leaving him behind with their sister. "When mummy came back looking for him, I went out to help locate him and only to hear later that he had drowned in the pit in front of our house," Michael stated. Unfortunately, word got home that Ransford passed away before getting to the hospital and this triggered a lot of wailing amongst relations and family friends that had thronged the scene to await news from the hospital. When Ransford's father, Wonderful Koranteng returned from the hospital with his friends, his demeanour clearly showed that his son did not survive the unfortunate incident. “It is sad that I have lost my son in a manner like what happened and it is a shame that the pit was left open after our landlady had earlier on collected monies from me and other tenants so as to have it sealed. She has failed to do so and today we have seen what one of the dangers the pit could cause," the deceased's father commented. "To be honest with you, I have warned him and the rest of my children to be careful around the pit since they could fall into it. It therefore came to me as a surprise and shock when I heard that my son had actually fallen into the same pit that I have warned him to stay away from" he added.