One dead, others injured at Bugum Festival
One person died on the spot while several others sustained injuries when a vehicle run through a crowd celebrating this year's Fire Festival (Bugum Festival) at Sang, the capital of Mion District in the Northern Region.
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The crowd was in a procession on the Tamale-Yendi road at Sang Friday night, October 23, 2015 when the incident occurred.
The driver of the vehicle for fear of his life absconded while the furious crowd also set ablaze the vehicle in the process.
Casualties
Apart from the incident that occurred at Sang, 15 others also sustained various degrees of injuries in Tamale.
Out of the 15, nine were treated and discharged at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) while four others were said to be in critical condition at the same hospital.
However, apart from these incidents that marred the beauty of the celebration, the festival passed off peacefully.
Background
The Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr Ebenezer Tetteh who confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic said two ladies who also sustained severe injuries and reported at the TTH emergency unit, later absconded.
He mentioned the names of the two ladies as Rahma Zakaria, 22, and Shamira Mohammed, 28.
He said at about 12 midnight on Friday, one Rashida Abdul Aziz, 22, a resident of Kukuo, a suburb of Tamale who had gone out to witness the festival received gun powder shot at the face.
He said the gun powder shot caused severe burns on the victim's face and left eye.
In another incident at Changili, ASP Tetteh said, Nasiru Huzeifa, 15, was allegedly hit with the butt of a gun on her head by an unknown person.
That, he added, she sustained a deep cut on the head with her skull showing.
He further said at the same area, Sumaila Muftaw, 22, who was firing musketry sustained severe injuries on the left hand when the wooden part of his gun exploded.
ASP Tetteh in addition, said, at Lamashegu, a suburb of Tamale, Iddrisu Abdul Rauf, 20, was among a procession when he was fired by an unknown person.
He explained that he (Rauf) sustained severe injuries at the right wrist with pellets entering his abdomen.
Reactions
Some residents that the Daily Graphic spoke to said this year's celebration received low patronage as compared to the previous years.
This, they said, was partly due to some security and safety concerns that were raised a day before the celebration which kept most people confined to their homes.
Meanwhile, the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna who is also the chairman of the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC), at a health walk organised a day after the event by the United Nations' office in Tamale to mark their 70th anniversary said this year's Bugum festival was peaceful.
He commended the chiefs and people in the region for the peaceful celebrations and urged them to continue to sustain the peace and stability in the region which he described were key to the development of the region.