Mother Abena Fosuah, whose 22-year-old daughter, Benedicta Agyeiwaa, was among the injured potential recruits in the El-Wak Sports Stadium stampede on Wednesday, has shared a heartbreaking account of the incident.
Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem, she recalled how she accompanied her daughter at dawn but left her halfway as Agyeiwaa headed to the El-Wak Stadium.
“I was the one who accompanied her at dawn, but I left her along the way when she said she could continue to the stadium,” she said.
She explained that her daughter arrived at the venue around 4:15 a.m., but by 7 a.m. she had tried calling her several times without success.
“I kept calling her, but she didn’t pick up. I became worried,” she added.
Her fears deepened when her eldest child informed her that someone called, to say Agyeiwaa’s bag and other belongings were with her.
“I asked how her things got to the person, and I was told to come to El-Wak. When we got there, we were told some people had been rushed to 37 Hospital and others had even died. I was alarmed and started crying because I didn’t know whether my daughter was alive or dead,” she recounted.
She said after President Mahama visited the scene, relatives were asked to proceed to the emergency ward at the 37 Military Hospital to check on their loved ones.
“That was when I saw that my daughter was part of those injured and lying in the emergency ward. All the parents there were sad. The situation was very painful to watch,” she said.
According to her, she only became calm when her daughter finally regained consciousness.
“I wasn’t okay until she opened her eyes, mentioned my name, and said ‘Ma’. That was when I felt a bit relieved,” she stated.
She said her daughter was discharged late on Thursday, but according to her, they could not immediately return home because the journey back to Kasoa was too long and her daughter was too weak to travel.
She narrated that when they wanted to stay, after they were discharged, one nurse questioned why they were still around.
“One nurse told me that government had taken care of the medical bills, so was it transportation that was a problem for us to go home after they discharged us at night? I was very angry when she said that,” she said.
However, she noted that a soldier intervened and told them it was safer to sleep over and leave the next morning.
“The night shift nurses were also very nice. They told us to stay and leave the following day,” she added.
She said on Thursday around 3 a.m., she woke her daughter up so they could prepare to go home.
Reports from the scene indicate that the recruitment exercise, which attracted thousands of applicants nationwide, turned chaotic at several centres, leading to stampedes and numerous injuries. In Kumasi and Accra, several young people reportedly collapsed while trying to enter overcrowded venues.
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has confirmed that the death toll from the El-Wak Stadium incident remains at six.
ALSO READ:
El-Wak stampede: Gender Minister urges calm after concerns over 37 Military…
Parents of El-Wak stampede victims urged to stick to 37 Military…