12 dead in gory Jasikan, Kasoa accident

Twelve persons have been confirmed dead while several others sustained various degrees of injury in two separate accidents on the Bowiri Hohoe-Jasikan road in the Volta Region and Kasoa Galelia in the Central Region.

The crash on the Bowiri Hohoe-Jasikan road, which claimed 10 lives, occurred on Thursday, while the one at Kasoa Galelia, in which two persons reportedly died, occurred in the early hours of yesterday.

The accident in the Volta Region occurred on a portion of the deplorable Eastern Corridor road between Hohoe and Jasikan.

Several people whose relatives and friends were involved in the accident were in a state of shock and panic as they combed through various hospitals and health centres in the area.

The accident which occurred between Jasikan and Hohoe involved a Hyundai Grace commercial vehicle travelling from Jasikan and a Metro Mass Transit (MMT) bus coming from the Hohoe direction. The two vehicles had a head-on collision, with eyewitnesses attributing the incident to poor visibility because of the harmattan.

Narrating the incident to DAILY GUIDE, the Jasikan District Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Owoahene Acheampong Adjei, said eight people in the bus, including the driver, died on the spot when the accident happened on Thursday, December 10, 2015 at about 5:15 pm.

Two later died at the Jasikan Hospital while four others were still on admission at the Jasikan Government Hospital.

The bodies have since been sent to the Worawora Government Hospital.

One of the deceased persons had been identified as Pearl Amevor, a community health nurse who was returning from a health durbar in one of the communities within the Jasikan district. She left behind a baby and a husband.

Out of the 16 persons who were in the Hyundai Grace H200 bus with registration number GE 8706-09, two people, a mother and her baby, miraculously survived.

They were discharged by doctors minutes after admission.

In the case of the MMT bus with registration number GR 4418-12, only six people sustained some injuries and were admitted in hospital at Jasikan.

Chief Superintendent Owoahene Acheampong Adjei attributed the accident to the dusty nature of the road as well as overtaking on the part of the MMT bus.

He said “preliminary investigation shows that the MMT bus which was from the Hohoe side was trying to overtake a vehicle but due to the dusty nature of the road, his vision might have been blurred hence making him collide head-on with the Urvan bus from Jasikan.”

He said the Jasikan to Hohoe road, a part of the Eastern Corridor road, had been very bad for several years until some grading of the road started a few months ago. That portion of the road, according to President Mahama, had been given to Rolider for construction.

Although the grading had made the road better than before, it also made it very dusty, bathing every object along the route with dust.

Some residents who spoke to DAILY GUIDE noted that they visit the hospital regularly since the dust has been causing some respiratory diseases. Several pleas through their assembly members to the Assembly and the contractor to water the road frequently had fallen on deaf ears.

Chief Superintendent Owoahene used the occasion to advise the contractor to ensure periodic watering of the road and appealed to the necessary agencies to ensure that was done.

He also cautioned drivers against over-speeding and advised them to be very cautious since the harmattan has aggravated the dusty situation on the road.

The accident at Kasoa Galelia involving a Kia truck, registered GM 4127-14, killed two men, including an elderly man who lost his life on the spot.

One of the victims, Ebenezer Sackey, 40, was said to have been rushed to the Kasoa Polyclinic but died after 20 minutes on admission at the facility.

Information provided to the media and the general public by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) indicated that from January to November this year, 1,474 deaths and 8,448 injuries had been recorded from a total of 9,904 accidents that involved 15,505 vehicles nationwide.