Freak accidents near Pokuase
Six vehicles, including two fuel tankers, were involved in two separate accidents on the Accra-Pokuase road last Monday and yesterday.
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In the first accident, which took place at about 3 p.m. last Monday, a fuel tanker ran into a mini Urvan school bus with schoolchildren on board and a Mercedes Benz 207 commercial vehicle.
The tanker and the bus caught fire in the process, but all the occupants escaped unhurt.
At about 3:30 a.m. yesterday, three vehicles collided in a separate accident about 300 metres from the spot where the first accident had occurred.
Police role
The Amasaman District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police Mr George Kumah, told the Daily Graphic that the police received a distress call last Monday afternoon that three cars had been involved in an accident and “so policemen went to the scene immediately”.
He said with the help of some Good Samaritans, the schoolchildren who were still in the bus which had run into an open drain were evacuated.
“Immediately the children were brought out of the bus, the fuel tanker which had some of the fuel spilled on the road caught fire and then the school bus, which was not far away, was also ablaze,” he said.
He said some of the schoolchildren who had attempted to get out of the bus when it fell into the drain sustained bruises on their bodies.
Mr Kumah said investigations established that the school bus and the commercial vehicle had stopped at a bus stop near the Festus Hotel Junction, towards Amasaman.
“The fuel tanker was passing by, but the driver of the school bus did not watch before joining the main road. Suddenly, the tanker hit the school bus and the driver struggled to gain control over the steering, while the commercial vehicle also joined the road without watching,” he said.
Metro Mass Transit driver hurt
In the second accident, Mr Kumah said at about 3:30 a.m. yesterday, the police received information that a Metro Mass Transit bus, a fuel tanker and a tipper truck had been involved in another accident.
He said the fuel tanker and the tipper truck had been negotiating the U-turn from Pokuase to Amasaman, while the Metro Mass bus was coming from the opposite direction.
The bus collided with the fuel tanker, and the tipper truck which was behind the fuel tanker crashed into it.
The driver of the Metro bus, who sustained injuries, is currently on admission at the Amasaman Hospital.
Mr Kumah said all the people involved in the accident were treated at the same hospital and discharged.