Pokuase accident kills three

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March 11, 2009

THREE persons died on the spot yesterday and many others sustained injuries when an articulated truck loaded with lumber skidded off the road and hit a tree after running into the rear of an Accra-bound commercial bus at Pokuase, near Accra.
The deceased persons were identified as Kwaku Yeboah, driver of the truck, with registration number GR 7930 N, and his two mates, Wayo and Ben.
The injured persons included those on board the bus as well as schoolchild and an elderly man, who were standing along the road at the spot where the accident occurred.
It took the police/fire service team and other volunteers more than an hour to retrieve the bodies of the dead who were trapped in the front seat of the truck.
The accident occurred at about 7 a.m. and drew a large crowd to that area known as Delali on the Accra-Pokuase road. The police had a hectic time in controlling the crowd which kept increasing as efforts were made to remove the trapped persons.
According to eyewitnesses, the Yutong commercial bus, with the inscription Neoplan Drivers Wives Association and a sticker indicating it was financed by Intercontinental Bank, was on its way from Kumasi to Accra.
They said on reaching the bridge at Delali, the articulated truck, which was travelling from Suhum to a timber market at Pokuase, hit the rear of the bus forcing both vehicles off the road and throwing them into a ditch.
They said in the process the truck hit a tree killing the three persons.
While other eyewitnesses said the truck was being chased by a Forestry task force, others said the vehicle burst a tyre.
When contacted, the Amasaman Police District Commander, DSP Stephen Kwakye, said the police would investigate the cause of the accident.
He said as a result of the manner in which drivers had been speeding on the road, letters had been written to the authorities to erect speed ramps on that portion of the road.
However, he said, nothing had been done and people were being killed indiscriminately on the road.
The Chairman of the Pokuase West Residents Association, Mr Moses Adotey, who deplored the attitude of drivers on the road, also expressed concern about the lack of urgency given to the letters written to the highway authorities to have speed ramps on the road.