Graphic loses vendor

A 40-year-old Graphic vendor met his untimely death at Okponglo, near Legon, when a vehicle veered off the road and ran over him on the pavement.

Ebenezer Ayetey, known among his peers as Eben, and other traders were going about their retail business when the driver of the pick-up vehicle, with registration number GS 6120 – 09, veered off the main road onto the pedestrian walkway, knocking him in the process.

A senior vendor, Mr Solomon Baafi, said the incident happened about midday yesterday.

He said they were selling newspapers in the company of other hawkers when they heard a loud noise, prompting them to run from the spot.

They later saw the pick-up virtually in a gutter, after it had knocked the victim on the pavement.

Mr Baafi said they saw both the driver and a passenger getting out of the vehicle through the windows before the police arrived at the scene.

Vehicle knockdowns and near death incidents are said to be common along the Tetteh Quarshie-Okponglo stretch of the N4 Highway.

Some of the vendors told the Daily Graphic on telephone that in spite of the dangers, they had no choice but to continue to ply their trade on such traffic congested streets.

The Circulation Manager of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd, Mr Kwaku Tweneboah Ofosu, said the incident was unfortunate and expressed his condolence to the family of the vendor.

He said Ayetey was a hardworking person and that the company deeply regretted his untimely death.