Eclipse clears traffic jam in Accra

Accra, March 29, GNA - Human and vehicular traffic that normally characterised the central and other parts of Accra went almost dead a few hours before the solar eclipse on Wednesday.

The usual traffic jam on the Accra-Tema Beach Road, which normally makes a number of workers late to work, was present.

The anticipation of total darkness evoked fear into many a driver and passenger, who rather chose to stay at home or start work later in the day after the eclipse.

Most of the stalls that encroached on the green belt at the New Tema Station were empty and people moved swiftly without hindrance. The few people found on the usually busy streets in the Ministries, through the Registrar-General's Department and the Tema Station donned their sunshades to intermittently watch the rare phenomenon till it climaxed with a shining silver ring in a completely dark sky. At 0910, the moon completely covered the sun. It held on tightly to the sun for three minutes in a shiny silver circle, registering another rare historical event, which last happened about six decades ago in Ghana.

Students and some tutors at the Accra Polytechnic, watching the phenomenon took pictures, either of the memorable sight or of one another.

They went into spontaneous delight, as after the three minutes, the sun began to "liberate" itself from its "captor", and reclaimed its position as the king of the sky during the day. Wednesday's solar eclipse in Ghana was expected to traverse Togo, Benin, Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Libya and Egypt.