Student killed by hit-and-run driver

A final year student of the Ada Kyeremanteng M/A Junior High School (JHS),  near Koforidua was killed by a Hyundai mini bus at Aboabo near Koforidua,  last Friday.

The deceased, Raymond Acheampong, 17, and another final year pupil, Obed Paddy, also 17 years, were hit by the bus with registration number, GR 3020 Q.

The driver of the bus fled the scene after the incident, leaving  Raymond critically injured and Obed with a fractured  left leg.

Residents of the area, who  reportedly heard the loud noise created by the accident,  rushed to the scene and found blood oozing from Raymond's body, according to eye witnesses.

They were said to have called in the police who conveyed the BECE candidates to the Eastern Regional Hospital at Koforidua where Raymond passed away.

The driver of the bus has been arrested and is currently in police custody, according to the police sources.

He was reported to be overtaking another vehicle at top speed in a sharp curve when his bus smashed the students.

The victims, who wrote the BECE in the morning of that fateful day, were reported to be walking on the shoulders of the other side of the road when the incident occurred.

They were said to have left their house at Aboabo to study at their school at Ada to prepare for Monday's exam but decided to take a break during their studies to attend the wake-keeping of a popular Eastern Region radio presenter at Charley Junction, a suburb of Koforidua.When the Daily Graphic visited the house of the deceased at Aboabo, several wailing residents of the area were seen consoling the mother of Raymond and her relatives.

Raymond, was the second born of five siblings and his relatives and residents of the area described him as a brilliant student, an assertion that was confirmed by the head teacher of the Kyeremanteng M/A JHS, Mr Fred R Nukunu.

Fathi Suleimana, the 39-year-old mother of Raymond told the Daily Graphic that after her deceased son had finished writing last Friday's papers, he rushed home to take his supper and went back to school with his mates to study for Monday's exams.

Obed was sent to the examination centre in a wheel chair on Monday,  to write his final papers.

The head teacher appealed to the government to help in the construction of speed rumps along the Ada-Nkurakan road,  to check over speeding.

'Many of our students stay in communities along this dangerous road and it is time the government helped to ensure their safety to and from school', he added.

By Nana Konadu Agyeman