Assin Atobiase: Truck Kills 5 Pupils

Five female pupils died on the spot while two others, a boy and a girl sustained various degrees of injuries when a truck ran over them at Assin-Atobease in the Assin South District of the Central Region on Friday afternoon.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Okyere Andam, the District Police Commander, confirmed the tragedy to the Ghana News Agency.

He said the articulated truck with registration number AS 8123-16 loaded with about 850 bags of cement was heading to Kumasi from Takoradi.

On reaching Atobease, it developed a mechanical fault that separated the trailer from the head and the driver lost control, veered off the road and crushed the pupils who were walking to Assin-Kyekyewere from the basic school at Assin-Atobease to prepare for the inter-schools games at Offin.

The all-female victims in Primary 5 and 6 were crushed beyond recognition and their remains have since been deposited at Abura Dunkwa Government Hospital morgue.

He stated that two others, a boy and a girl as well as the driver were seriously injured and responding to treatment at the same facility, but the driver's mate had since absconded.

The police have visited the bereaved families to console them.

The District Commander admonished drivers to regularly maintain their vehicles, drive at speed limits and be conscious as the yuletide inches.

Mr Stephen Abanfo, the District Director of Education, who was at the scene, expressed shock at the sudden demise of the pupils.

He told the GNA, "I was in my office when he heard a loud bang on the road, so I quickly rushed out only to see an articulated truck loaded with cement - ran-over the pupils after it veered off the road killing them instantly".

Mr Derek Owusu Ambrose, the District Chief Executive (DCE), sympathized with the bereaved families and called on the Ghana Highway Authority to as a matter of urgency construct a speed ramp on that stretch of the road, which had gradually become a death trap.