Commission moves to stadium at night

The Okudzeto Commission probing the May 9 Accra Sports stadium disaster night shifted from the Teachers' Hall to the scene of the disaster to have a feel of the likely situation on the ill fated day.

When the Commissioners arrived at about 19:30 hours the floodlights were on to give them an insight into the level of illumination before the disaster.

Armed with a measuring tape, the Commission registered various lengths between the positions of some Policemen, who took part in the shooting and the places where their commanders were.

Chief Superintendent Nana Koranteng Mintah, who has so far been mentioned by five policemen as the officer, who gave the order to shoot was asked to issue a command from a position in front of the Press Box while the commissioners and some Policemen stood at the entrance of the dressing room.

Mr Joe Aggrey, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports later joined the Commissioners, who were accompanied by Brigadier George Brock, Acting Chief Executive of the National Sports Council.

While the Commissioners climbed the stairs to the North Stands, where most of the victims died, Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa remarked that the stairs were rather steep.

Though the floodlights were on, the stairwells could not be said to be very well illuminated, as there was only a fluorescent tube at the basement of each one.

After a careful scrutiny of the stadium under the full rays of the floodlights, they were turned off, leaving only the panic lights on as the Commissioners assessed the situation in order to arrive at credible conclusions on how 126 able bodied Ghanaians might have perished on May 9.