"Tro-Tro" Run Over & Kills Skating Children

Three children who were skating on the Kanda Highway in Accra, died instantly when a trotro minibus ran over them.

Mahama Seidu and Fuseini Seidu who are cousins and their friend Amin Razak, were aged 12, 13 and 14 respectively.

Minutes earlier, they were having great fun, sliding from the road in front of the Accra Girls? Secondary School downwards to the Kaokudi Junction and sometimes skilfully moved in between the cars.

The incident happened on March 14. According to an eyewitness, just after the Friday Muslim prayers, the children started skating on the pavement along the highway.

?Perhaps they wanted everybody to see how skilful they were because, after some minutes, they moved onto the road itself and held on to a truck,? the witness said.

The eyewitness said after moving a short distance, the truck turned a curve toward the Maamobi Market and the children who did not want to go that way, let go of the truck.

?Suddenly, they all slid into the opposite lane and a white trotro which was travelling at top speed from the direction of Gold House, knocked and killed them instantly.

Mallam Suleman Ibrahim, another eyewitness, said he had earlier advised the children to move to the Kanda Park to skate, ?but they did not listen to me,? he said.

Mallam Ibrahim said he saw the speeding bus which knocked them down but because he cannot read and write, he could not take down the registration number.

Mr Abubakar Iddrisu Seidu, a labourer and father of Fuseini, confirmed that his son, together with his cousin, and a friend were knocked down while skating.

He said because of financial difficulties and the long procedures that he would have had to follow at the police station, the family decided to bury the cousins without making a report to the police.

He also explained that as a muslim, the family could not keep the bodies in the morgue, neither would they be able to bear the cost of preserving them.

The coach of Full Force Skaters Club, Mr Osah Osumanu, said because of the unfortunate incident he has warned his young skaters to refrain from skating on main roads to avoid any danger to their lives.

The Commander of the Greater Accra Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU), of the Police Service, Superintendent Victor Tandoh, who was contacted on the issue, shared concern about the sudden skating craze in the city and asked parents not to allow their children to skate or play games along the roads because that is dangerous.

Supt Tandoh urged children who love skating to rather go to the plain field or park to skate and never do so on main roads because they could be knocked down or run over by vehicles.