The Ghanaian Embassy in France on Thursday affirmed that no Ghanaian died in the Paris terrorist attack that occurred last Friday.
It has therefore debunked media reports that a Ghanaian died at the Stade de France in a stampede following the terrorist attacks in Paris.
Johanna Odonkor Svanikier, Ghana’s Ambassador to France and Portugal, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the Embassy made enquiries at St Denis Police Station, the suburb where the young man Otis Nuako was alleged to have died, and the police knew nothing of the case.
The statement said the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has affirmed that there was no record of Otis Nuako, the alleged deceased being amongst the victims of the Paris attacks.
They indicated that they had no record of him or any Ghanaian being victim to the attacks.
Further enquiries revealed that there was only one victim killed by the explosions outside the national stadium – a middle-aged white man.
The statement said circumstances leading to the alleged death of the late Otis Nuako, who it was alleged was found lying unconscious on a street in Saint Denis, not far from the national stadium, are still unclear.
The statement said the name Otis Nuako is not on the list of victims of the terrorists’ attacks released by the French authorities in Paris and there were no Ghanaians on the list either, adding that the Mission continues to work with the police and the host authorities to establish the facts of the case.
The statement said following a visit to his home by Embassy officials, one Mr. Ahenkan, a member of the Ghanaian community in Paris, indicated that he was the father of the alleged deceased.
According to the statement, Mr Ahenkan informed officials from the Mission that his son was a French born national and had never owned a Ghanaian passport.
Further, his son did not live at home but with friends they did not know and at a location unknown to his parents.
They therefore did not have any knowledge about his movements or whereabouts prior to his demise.
According to the statement, Mr. Ahenkan told the Mission officials that on Sunday, November 15, the local police came to their residence and informed his wife, Adwoa Gyimah, about the critical condition of their son who had been admitted to a hospital in St Denis.
According to him, his wife followed the police to the hospital where she was told that personnel of the French Ambulance Service had rushed her son to the hospital.
The statement said Mr. Ahenkan then stated that his wife saw their son attached to a life support machine, but was told by the doctor that he was dead and therefore the life support needed to be switched off.
He explained that the police then informed his wife that they would get back to her after their investigations.
The statement said in a later interview posted on a social media website, Mr Ahenkan said he had accompanied his wife and the police to the hospital, adding that this contradicted what he had earlier told Embassy officials.
Source: GNA
