3 Die At Elubo

Albert Sowah, Chief Collector of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) in Elubo, Daniel Owusu of Ghana Immigration Service in Elubo and his wife, Hannah Afful of the Ghana Immigration Service in Aflao all died in a motor accident at Mile Three near Elubo in the Western Region last Friday.

Their burnt bodies have been deposited at the Half Assini Government Hospital mortuary pending autopsy.

Confirming the accident to DAILY GUIDE in an telephone interview, John Ferguson Dzineku, Half Assini District Police Commander, said on Friday, April 28, 2012 at about 5pm, Albert Sowah, 57, picked up his friend, Daniel Owusu, 28, and Hannah Afful, 28, with the intention of going to a restaurant at Mile Three on the Elubo-Aiyinasi highway with them.

While on the way, Sowah, who was driving the car, lost control of the steering wheel, so the car veered off its lane and ran into a stationary VW transporter bus with registration number GR 608 X parked on the shoulders of the road.

The Mercedes Benz saloon car then somersaulted into a valley and in the process, Daniel Owusu was thrown out of the vehicle and he sustained some injuries.

In a split second, the car caught fire and Albert Sowah and Hannah Afful got burnt beyond recognition because they were trapped in it.

Some Good Samaritans who arrived at the scene rushed Daniel Owusu to the Elubo Health Centre but he died shortly on arrival. The police later came to retrieve the three bodies to the morgue of Half Assini Government Hospital.

In a related development, the body of Gideon Kwarteng, a biometric registration official (special duties) who got drowned on the River Tano near Elubo, has been found.

According to Superintendent John Ferguson Dzineku, the body was found afloat by a farmer, Joseph Kwaw Amenlah, who was cruising on a canoe to his farm last Thursday, April 27, 2012.

The police retrieved the body and deposited it at Half Assini Government Hospital and the father of the deceased was informed accordingly.

It would be recalled that Gideon Kwarteng and five other biometric registration officials were among 16 passengers from Mpeasem travelling on a canoe powered by an outboard-motor, when it hit a rock in the River Tano and capsized on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 around 1 pm.

Professional divers were dispatched by the police and the chiefs in the area also instructed the best divers to assist, but they could not retrieve the body of the deceased until Joseph Kwaw Amenlah, the farmer, saw it afloat downstream and alerted the police. Gideon Kwarteng, 24, a native of Bibiani in the Western Region and a former student of Takoradi Polytechnic, was doing his national service.