A third-year student of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has died after jumping from the highest diving platform at the university’s swimming pool in Kumasi.
The platform is reported to be 17.6 feet high. The student, a chemical engineering undergraduate, had gone to the facility on the KNUST campus with friends at about 17:00 on Saturday, November 7.
He climbed on to the pool’s highest springboard before stepping off and entering the water, according to footage circulated on social media on Sunday, November 8. The pool is reported to be 17.9 feet deep directly beneath the platform.
The student did not resurface within seconds of entering the water. Other swimmers and pool attendants on duty then entered the pool and pulled him out.
People at the scene attempted to revive him by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at the side of the pool. He was subsequently taken to the university hospital, where doctors were unable to save him.
His body has been deposited at the morgue of the KNUST School of Medical Sciences ahead of an autopsy. The Ghana Police Service has reportedly begun investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.
Reports about the student’s surname have differed. He was identified in media reports as a former student of Adisadel College, a regular user of the swimming pool and a member of the university’s basketball team.
KNUST management had not issued an official statement confirming his identity on the university’s website by Sunday evening. Tributes from classmates and members of the KNUST student community were shared online following his death.
