Horrific, 21 perish in two accidents

Twenty-one people were killed on Wednesday night and in the early hours of yesterday in two separate accidents at Bewadze, near Winneba in the Central Region and Akyem-Nkronso, near Apedwa on the Accra-Kumasi road in the Eastern Region.
Sixteen people died in the Bewadze accident a five in the Akyem-Nkronso incident.
In the first accident, a gas tanker collided with a saloon car, exploded and burst into flames, resulting in people getting burnt, some of them beyond recognition. Those killed included two children and a pregnant woman. About 27 others who sustained various degrees of injury were sent to the Korle-Bu and the 37 Military hospitals.
One of the 11 people referred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital was pronounced dead on arrival, while three others, two females and a male, died yesterday morning, bringing the total number of people who died in the first accident to 16.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Mr Mustapha Salifu, among the seven surviving victims of the Bewadze accident were five males and two females.
He mentioned those on admission as Anthony Sam, 33; Kezia Krampa, 18; Sadatu Muntari, whose age is unknown; Yussif Mohammed, 30; Kwaku Edwin, 42; Joshua Odartey Lamptey, 14, and Bright Nyarko Nkoom, 19.
The deceased include 10-year-old Kofi, Adisa Kobura, 50; Christine Buah, 50, and an unidentified adult.
The driver of the tanker and one of his mates who managed to survive the accident are in the grips of the police.
The accident, which occurred about 7.30 p.m., involved the tanker, with registration number GE 2115 Z, and a saloon car, with registration number GR 8962 U.
At the time the Daily Graphic team got to the scene about 6.30 a.m. yesterday, smoke was still coming out of a 33-seater Mercedes Benz bus which was about 100 metres away from where the tanker collided with the saloon car.
A few metres from the Benz was the charred body of a woman who had fallen into a trench along the road.
Opposite the spot of the accident was a burnt area stretching about 200 metres.
Two other vehicles that were affected by the raging fire and got burnt in the process were a 33-seater Benz, with registration number GR 8944 B, and an Urvan bus, with registration number CR 461 Z.
Also at the scene of the accident was the tank containing liquefied petroleum gas which had disengaged from the vehicle stuck in between a culvert.
The Winneba Municipal Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), ASP Nana Ofori, told the Daily Graphic that the police were yet to establish the cause of the accident.
He said the driver of the tanker and his mate were giving conflicting statements as to how the accident occurred, adding that the police had since begun investigations into the matter.
However, eyewitnesses said the tanker, which was travelling from Accra towards Apam, burst its left tyre and in the process ran into the lane of the saloon car which was coming from the Apam end towards Winneba.
Following that, they said, there was a loud explosion from the tanker, which caught fire which, in turn, engulfed other vehicles behind it.
The Winneba Municipal Fire Officer, DOI B. K. Nketiah, told the Daily Graphic that it took firemen two hours to put out the fire.
At the Winneba Government Hospital, the officer in charge of the Accidents Unit, Ms Victoria Eduafo, said 34 victims had been brought to the hospital.
Out of the number, seven passed away. Three others died on the spot, while the rest died at the hospital.
In the second accident, a 20-footer container on a DAF truck fell onto the lane of an oncoming 33-seater Mercedes Benz bus, crushing it and killing four persons on the spot.
The accident occurred about 3.45 a.m. yesterday when the trailer of the DAF truck, which was carrying the container which contained several gallons of acid, detached from the main body of the truck, with registration number GE 2882 Z.
It rolled on the road for several metres in the lane of the oncoming Benz bus, crushed it and spilled its contents on those on board the bus.
The DAF truck was said to be travelling from the Tema Port to Niamey, the capital of Niger, while the Benz bus, with registration number ER 611 N, was heading towards Accra from Kwahu Tafo.
Among those who died on the spot were the driver of the Benz bus, who was identified as Richard Kwame Yeboah, and his mate, who was not immediately identified.
Another dead person, who had been rushed to the Suhum Government Hospital where eight others who had sustained injuries had been taken to, have also not been identified yet.
Eyewitnesses said the accident occurred when the driver of the DAF truck, driven by one Abdul Razak, by-passed a stationary Mercedes truck, with registration number GR 605 B, parked in a curve on the shoulders of the road.
They said the driver of the truck, who was said to have spotted the oncoming bus while in the process of by-passing the stationery truck, attempted to slow down and moved back into his lane and, in the process, the trailer detached itself from the main body and fell on the path of the oncoming bus.
The witnesses said while the head of the truck was in the bush, the 20-footer container rolled several yards in the lane of the Benz bus before crashing into the oncoming bus and mangling it in the process.
They said before the accident occurred, the driver of the bus had directed it off its lane in order to avoid the container but rather ran into it. The black plume emanating from the leaking acid also engulfed the area, hampering rescue operations.
Personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service from Suhum who went to the scene, however, managed to rescue others and retrieve the bodies of the deceased.
The Suhum District Police Commander, Superintendent Paul Kontomah, confirmed the story and cautioned drivers to be disciplined on the road.
Mr Timothy Gobah also reports that President J.E.A. Mills yesterday visited victims of the Bewadze accident at the 37 Military Hospital Emergency Trauma and Surgical Department to empathise with them.
The President, who was accompanied by the Minister of Health, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, and some ministers of state, was at the hospital to also have firsthand information on the accident.
President Mills was taken round the emergency ward by the Commanding Officer of the hospital, Brigadier-General Wade Whani, where he wished the victims speedy recovery.
Dr Yankey, who addressed the media after the visit, said the government would put emergency measures in place to save the lives of those who survived.
He said recent accidents on the Accra-Winneba road had revealed the inadequacies in the health sector and
mentioned the lack of ambulances to deal with emergency cases on the roads and medical equipment in the hospitals as some of the inadequacies that must be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
Dr Yankey said his ministry had plans to meet transport owners, as well as players in the industry, to fashion out an inter-sectoral measure to deal with the situation.
He used the occasion to appeal to drivers to be careful on the roads, while urging the public to call on the Fire Service particularly in accidents involving inflammable materials, such as gas and petroleum products.
He commended the medical staff on duty at the Winneba, Suhum, Korle-Bu and 37 Military hospitals for their swift responses to the situation and singled out Dr Armah of Korle-Bu and Major Dr Appiah of the 37 Military Hospital for mention.