A 17-year-old boy, identified as Patrick Nyarko, has drowned while 12 others escape death when swimming in an abandoned stone quarry pit went bad.

The water level of the pit rose suddenly, causing the swimmers to lose their balance.

The pit, located at Gomoa Asarekrom near Buduburam in the Central Region, has been abandoned for five years without any precautionary barricades.

An eyewitness, who spoke to Adom News, said he saw about 15 children head to the site and despite several warnings of danger, he was ignored and they proceeded anyway.

Stephen said shortly after, he heard wails from that direction, only to be informed that one of the boys was drowning.

However, the victim was already dead when the rescue team retrieved him from the water due to the delay.

Meanwhile, heartbroken father of the deceased, Kweku Owusu, said his son was preparing for his JHS exit exams.