MOTOR ACCIDENT CLAIMS SIX LIVES (BACK PAGE, JAN 14, 2011)

Story: Zakaria Alhassan, Tamale.

SIX persons died on the spot while four others sustained injuries when a vehicle in which they were travelling in, veered off and run into an oncoming Articulator truck at Diare, along the Tamale-Bolgatanga highway.
There was however an altercation between the police and the kinsmen and sympathizers of the deceased when the former arrived at the scene to pick the deceased to the Morgue for autopsy.
The crowd blocked the road and compelled the Police to release the bodies that had already been deposited in the Police vehicle to them for early burial according to Islamic tradition.
The four injured persons including the driver of the KIA were nonetheless sent to the Tamale Teaching Hospital where they are currently receiving treatment.
According to the Police PRO, Ebenezer Tetteh, the incident occurred on Wednesday night at about 10pm. The KIA vehicle with the registration number AS 6798 Z in which all the ten victims were travelling in, was carrying foodstuff and animals from Lingbinsi in the West Mamprusi district to Techiman.
While the articulator truck with the registration number AS 1297 G was on its way from Accra to Bolgatanga.
Mr. Tetteh explained that, one of the front tyres of the KIA vehicle burst after hitting a pot hole. The driver thus lost control and veered off onto the lane of the oncoming articulator truck. It braced the truck in the process and somersaulted.
The PRO explained that the police arrived at the scene at about 11 pm and picked the deceased into their vehicle but were prevented from sending them to the TTH morgue by the agitated crowd who insisted that since the people were dead, there was no need for further delays in burying their kinsmen according to Islamic tradition.
“We had to release the bodies and leave the scene at around 1am to prevent any further tension,” Mr. Tetteh intimated.
He however said they were able to identify one Azumah Bawumia a circuit supervisor with the GES and indicated that, “if the people go ahead to burry the bodies without our consent, we would hold him responsible since he led the protest.”