A quiet Thursday evening in Somanya turned into a scene of unbearable grief when two young siblings were found dead in an uncovered, water-filled pit within a residential compound at Abokobi, a suburb of the town.
The victims have been identified as eight-year-old Jason Teye Mensah, a Class Two pupil, and nine-year-old Nathaniel Ayernor Kofi, a Class Three pupil. Both boys were pupils of Samsalo Preparatory School.
An Ordinary Day That Ended in Tragedy
The heartbreaking incident occurred on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at about 6:00 pm.
According to family members, the boys returned home from school as they always did. Their mother, who was attending to her shop at the time, received a call from them saying they were hungry. She asked them to eat some rice that had already been prepared at home and assured them she would return soon.
But when she later closed from work and arrived home, the house was eerily quiet.
Their grandmother, Doris Tetteh, said something that immediately felt wrong.
“Normally, they would run to welcome their mother the moment she arrived,” she recounted. “That day, there was no sign of them.”
A Search Ends in Horror
Alarmed, the family launched a frantic search around the house and the nearby surroundings. Moments later, they discovered the boys’ slippers lying close to an uncovered manhole within the compound of a newly developed house.
That discovery led to the devastating truth.
The lifeless bodies of the two children were found submerged in the open pit filled with water. They were quickly retrieved and rushed to the hospital, but doctors pronounced them dead on arrival.
Police Begin Investigations
Confirming the incident, the Somanya District Police Commander, Kingsley Abrokwa, said the police have commenced investigations to establish the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
A Preventable Loss
As the community mourns, the incident has reignited concerns over uncovered pits, manholes, and construction hazards within residential areas, silent dangers that continue to claim innocent lives.
For one family in Somanya, two playful boys who left for school in the morning never made it back to greet their mother in the evening.
What remains is grief, unanswered questions, and a painful reminder that safety lapses can turn ordinary days into lifelong sorrow.
Source: paqmediagh/Peter Quao Adattor
