Three mourners die in accident

Three persons died instantly while 30 others sustained various degrees of injury in an accident involving three vehicles at the outskirts of Nazareth on the Akyem Oda-Agona Swedru road at dawn last Saturday.

The vehicles involved in the accident were a 207 Mercedes Benz bus, a KIA cargo truck and a Mitsubishi Pajero.

The names of the deceased were given as Victoria Brako, 49, trader; Afia Sarpong, 40, trader, and Augustina Nketia, 43.

They were among 27 members of the Tarkwa Trinity Presbyterian Church who were on their way to Oda to attend the funeral of a church member, the late Mr Amoa Darkwa, the Tarkwa Municipal Co-ordinating Director, who died on August 31, this year.

Sixteen of the passengers are on admission at the Oda Government Hospital, while the rest were treated and discharged by the hospital.

Those on admission are Michael Kodjo Edzi, 54, the driver of the 207 bus, from Tarkwa; Baba Kankani, 33, the driver of the KIA truck, and his mate Razak Abdul Karim, 18, both from Akyem Nkwateng in the Akyem mansa District of the Eastern Region.

Others are Clement Aboagye, 18; Daniel Adjetey, 50, of the University of Mines, Tarkwa; Paul Kwabi, 42; Stephen Adonu, 52; Richard Datsomor, 34; Dorvj Aworve, 50; Rose Dankyi, 53; Mrs Margaret Kyei Baffour, 46; Elizabeth Adjei, 43; Mrs Elizabeth Asamoah Aboah, 46; Juliet Siaw, 43; Lily. Appiah, 45, and Stella Acheampong, all residents of Tarkwa.

Briefing the Daily Graphic at Oda after visiting the accident spot and the patients at the Oda Government Hospital, the Oda Divisional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr Ben Atadana, said the 207 bus and the Nissan Pajero were travelling from Tarkwa to Oda with members of the Tarkwa Trinity Presbyterian Church to attend the funeral; while the KIA truck, loaded with foodstuffs, palm oil and some traders, was heading towards Accra from Akyem Nkwateng.

He said the driver of the KIA truck veered off his lane and collided head on with the bus around 4.30 a.m., making the bus somersault several times, grazing the side of the Pajero that was behind it.

When contacted on Sunday, the Medical Officer who was attending to the patients, Dr Kobena Awotwe Wiredu, said all the victims were in stable condition, except Mrs Stella Acheampong, who was being transferred to the Nyaho Clinic in Accra because of her critical condition, and Mrs Elizabeth Asamoah Aboah, who sustained deep scalp lacerations and a fractured left humerus.

The Birim Central Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Frank Kwame Busumtwi, and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Oda, Mr Yaw Owusu-Boateng, visited the accident spot and the patients at the Oda Government Hospital to wish them speedy recovery.

Mr Busumtwi made a personal cash donation to the patients and also promised that the assembly would help to defray the hospital expenses of those on admission if they approached it for assistance.